In Times of Danger
by ravengal
Summary: AU. Pikachu is a wild Pokemon struggling to survive life and predators on his own. When he saves the life of a female Buneary, however, his life is turned around... as, now, he has someone to fight with... and something to live for. PikaBun
1. Start Of Something New

Author's note: I'm just so freaking obsessed with lagomorphshipping lately that I simply couldn't resist writing this fic. Lol. It's been swirling around my head for some time now. (Yes, I know I should be working on Blue Moon Junior High, but, seriously, this plotline was killing me. :P)

Lastly, the chapter title is a High School Musical song. (I've sorta gone off High School Musical, but the title fits the chapter fairly well, I'd say.)

**Chapter One: Start Of Something New**

The sun shone brightly on a warm spring afternoon in the Sinnoh region, its radiant sunbeams bouncing off the various trees, bushes, flowers and grass that were dotted around Eterna Forest, giving them a somewhat magical glow. It was here that a male Pikachu was gathering its lunch from a bush of Oran berries.

Pikachu kept on the alert whilst picking another of his favourite berries; this forest was full of Pokemon and, being only a mouse, he had many predators that he needed to watch out for. Every day, life was a struggle to survive, but, fortunately, he was plenty strong enough to defend himself.

His long ears pricked up at the sound of fluttering wings, so, being extra careful not to attract any attention to himself, he turned his head very slowly towards the sky in the direction that it was coming from. Spotting a Pidgeot flying overhead, he slowly crept behind the bush and waited for it to fly out of sight.

"_Avoid all flying Pokemon. You never know which ones eat Pikachu."_

Pikachu sighed quietly; it'd been his father who'd once told him that. He'd always been a very wise and strong Pikachu.

"_That's right, dear. It's better to be safe than sorry."_

Pikachu sighed again, even quieter this time, as he continued to watch the Pidgeot in the sky; it'd been his mother who'd told him that. She'd always been a very sweet and caring Pikachu. A lump formed in his throat at the thought of his parents, but he shook his head and swallowed; now was not the time to be getting sentimental. He had to keep an eye on this Pidgeot.

Once the Pidgeot flew out of sight, Pikachu listened carefully for any other sign of movement; he heard scurrying, but the footsteps were far too light to be anything threatening, so he deemed it safe to continue collecting Oran berries.

He felt his stomach rumble as he walked out of his hiding spot and picked another berry; he was so hungry, he'd be tempted to eat a Rapidash if he didn't mainly eat plants and the occasional Shellos or Wurmple if he felt like it... or if there actually _were_ any Rapidash in Eterna Forest. He pulled the berry off the bush and looked at it.

"_Pfft... Oran berries? They're not dry enough. Let's pick some Chesto berries instead."_

Once again, Pikachu felt the lump in his throat; it'd been his brother who'd said that to him once, when they'd been out picking berries together. He'd always been a very brash and tactless Pikachu, yet had always had a really good heart.

"_No way. We need a more balanced diet than **that**. I say we get a few Oran berries and a few Persim berries, since their flavours are so well-balanced. Besides, not everyone in the clan **likes** dry berries, remember?"_

The lump in his throat increased; it'd been his sister who'd said that. She'd always been a very calm-minded and logical Pikachu, yet had always had quite the temper on her if provoked. He shook his head again, harder this time; it was so hard to stop thinking about them, even for a moment... but he didn't want to feel upset over them anymore.

_It's been a year now..._ he thought to himself. _I need to move on..._ He took a few deep breaths, calming himself.

Just as soon as he'd composed himself, he heard an ear-piercing shriek of terror. His ears pricked up instantly and he turned towards the source, darting back behind the bush at the same time. Who'd made that noise? It'd sounded like a Buneary. He listened harder and heard footsteps coming fast in his general direction. It sounded like one pair of feet hopping... and two pairs of feet giving chase.

"Help me! Please!"

Pikachu's stomach turned over at the sound of the Buneary's desperate plea; it sounded so scared and helpless. Suddenly, the Buneary hopped past him frantically, tears streaking down its face, looking very beaten up and limping slightly with every hop... and Pikachu could tell by the scent that she was a female... then a ferocious-looking Ninetales dashed past him... and the scent told him that she was a female too.

"Get back here!" the Ninetales called out viciously. "My Vulpix cubs are hungry! And you'd make a nice lunch for them!"

"Noooo! Please!" The Buneary sounded like she was sobbing. "Someone help me, _please_!"

Pikachu was frozen in place, a thousand thoughts running through his head all at once; should he save her? Or could she handle it herself? But it didn't look like she could handle it herself... but then he'd have to save her... but then _he'd_ be in danger of being caught and fed to the Ninetales mother's Vulpix cubs! What should he do? What should he _do_?

"_In times of danger, always think of others before yourself... and give help to those who need it most."_

That'd been the motto of the elder Raichu of Pikachu's clan. He'd repeated it over and over again, back when he, his brother, his sister and all of their cousins had been Pichu and again after they'd all evolved into Pikachu... and he realised that the old man was right; he couldn't just stand by while a fellow Pokemon needed his help. Dropping the Oran berry he'd been holding, he got on all fours and ran after the Ninetales.

* * *

Buneary was hopping as fast as she could to get away, but the Ninetales was catching up fast. In fact, her long ears told her that she was right behind her. If she lost her footing at any one moment... which was very possible, thanks to the limp she now had... then she'd be a goner.

"Help..." she called out, once again pleading Eterna Forest's Pokemon to come to her aid. However, her voice was dying in her throat; she knew now that no one would come. It was useless.

"Flamethrower!" the Ninetales shouted before she heard a blast of fire behind her. She attempted to dodge, but still felt the burning sensation scrape across her back. She clenched her teeth in pain. "It's useless trying to escape! You'll never get away!"

_I don't want to die!_ she thought as her heart continued to pound against her ribcage and tears continued to streak down her face.

The only attack she knew was Dizzy Punch, but the last time she'd turned round to try and attack her assailant with it, she'd been swatted away by the Ninetales' paw. Spinning out of control in mid-air, she'd landed awkwardly and sprained her ankle. In agony, she'd wanted to sit there and rest it for a while, but the Ninetales hadn't been about to let her get away, so she'd had to hop away with a limp. She'd also had Flamethrower used on her several times, so she felt very tired and worn-down.

"_You're so useless. Not only are you the weakest member of this clan, but you can't even use Bounce yet... while everyone else __**can**__. Pathetic."_

The alpha Lopunny of her clan had told her that not long ago... and, as much as she hated to admit it, it was true; she was weak. She'd never been able to defeat any of her relatives in sparring sessions and she'd almost been eaten by an Arbok the last time she'd gone to collect berries. Her cousin, being the strong Buneary that he'd always been, had needed to step in and rescue her.

As she hopped, her ankle gave way and she tripped, landing face first on the grass and skidding to a stop. Oh, Arceus, this was it! She was going to become food for this Ninetales' Vulpix cubs!

"Finally!" the Ninetales snarled happily. "You're mine!"

Buneary clenched her eyes shut and threw hers paws over her head, shaking in terror. She was going to die... she was going to die... She'd give anything to be safely back with her clan... absolutely anything...

"Thunderboooolt!" a voice called out.

Suddenly, electricity boomed behind her and she heard a scream of pain. This lasted a couple of seconds before it stopped... and a large body hit the floor. Slightly confused... and wondering why the Ninetales hadn't sunk her teeth into her yet... she lifted a paw, peeked an eye open and turned her head to see what'd happened.

Standing some distance away was a Pikachu... a _male_ Pikachu by the looks of its tail... and he was looking fierce and defiant, his eyebrows furrowed, his fists clenched and his cheeks sparking. As for the Ninetales that had been chasing her... she was directly behind her, on the floor and looking slightly crispy.

The Ninetales then climbed to her feet, snarling. "You little punk!" she snapped, her nine tails swishing around angrily.

"Stay away from her! You want _her_, then you're gonna have to go through _me_!"

_Did... did he... save me?_ Buneary wondered, her consciousness slipping. Now that her fear had diminished somewhat, she realised just how tired she was.

The Ninetales sneered. "You wanna play, little mouse? Well, alright then."

The Pikachu took on a fighting stance and made a 'Come and get me' gesture with his paw. "Bring it on, fox."

There was a moment of silence as the two Pokemon stared each other down... a silence in which one could hear a pin drop. It was as though all the Pokemon of the forest had stopped what they'd been doing to watch this showdown.

Buneary's eyes drooped and her vision blurred; she was exhausted and was about ready to collapse unconscious... but, if she could hold out a little longer, she could watch her saviour's fight...

"Fire Blaaaast!" The Ninetales shot a star shape of flames from her mouth that headed straight for the Pikachu.

"Thunderboooolt!" A blast of electricity shot towards the Fire Blast and they both exploded on contact, a thick cloud of black smoke suddenly covering the area.

"Flamethrower!" Another blast of fire erupted from the Ninetales' mouth and shot straight through the black cloud.

"Agility!" Buneary couldn't see what was happening, but she hoped that the Pikachu had avoided the Flamethrower attack. "Heh! You missed! Quick Attack!" The Pikachu suddenly dashed out of the cloud of smoke at lightning speed and smacked headfirst into the Ninetales before she had time to respond.

"Ow! Why, you little-! Iron Tail!" The Ninetales' nine tails glowed white before she swung them around forcefully.

The Pikachu jumped high and avoided the attack, powering up his cheeks as he did so. "Thundeeeerboooolt!"

Another scream of pain rang throughout the forest as, once again, the Pikachu's Thunderbolt attack electrocuted the Ninetales... then, suddenly, before the attack had even ended, there was a huge explosion and the Ninetales soared into the air and out of sight. She could be heard screeching in frustration before the sound of her voice faded away into the distance.

_He... he did it..._ Buneary thought as she saw the Pikachu land back on the grass before running towards her, looking worried, _he really... saved me... He really... came to my rescue..._ She smiled slightly before her head hit the grass and her eyes slowly closed. _Thank you, Arceus..._

* * *

Pikachu skidded to a stop by the fallen Buneary, really worried about her safety. Just how big a hit had she _taken_ from that Ninetales? She looked really badly beaten up... and, even worse, she had her eyes closed and wasn't moving.

He poked her. "Buneary?" he asked. He got no response. He poked her again. "Buneary?" He still got no response. Now he was _really_ worried. _Oh, Arceus..._ he thought, his heart pounding, _what do I do __**now**__? I saved her, but she's not..._ He shook his head. _No, she's probably just unconscious._ His heart sunk. _At least, I __**hope**__ she's unconscious..._ He shook his head again. _No, stop thinking like that. You've got to get her to safety. You never know __**what**__ kind of predator Pokemon's lurking nearby._

Being as gentle as he possibly could, he picked up the Buneary and slid her onto his back, his left paw holding her dangling paw in place and his right paw holding her dangling leg in place. Checking the surrounding area for predators, using both his eyes and ears, and finding none, he headed back to his burrow.

* * *

Buneary slowly opened her eyes, vaguely wondering why it was so dark around her. What the heck had happened? Where was she? Arceus, she was tired... She opened her eyes fully and saw a dirt wall in front of her.

"Wh-?"

She heard a slight shuffle behind her. "Oh, good, you're awake," she heard a voice say. She jumped, turning her body round to see who'd spoken... and came face-to-face with a smiling Pikachu. The scent she picked up told her that he was a male. "You had me worried there." She blinked at him. "You've been out for hours. It's dinner time." She blinked at him again. "You hungry?" He gestured towards a pile of both Oran berries and Persim berries.

_Who's he?_ Buneary thought. _Wait a minute... isn't he the-?_ She looked him over, from his sleek, toned body and glossy fur to his straight, un-dented tail... and her eyes widened. _He __**is**__! He's the Pikachu that saved me from that Ninetales!_ She felt the blood rush to her face. _Oh, wow... he was so cool back there, fighting that Ninetales... There's no way I could ever be as strong as __**he**__ is... He's really impressive... and... wow, looking at him now... smiling at me like that... he's so freaking cute!_

The Pikachu's smile slipped from his face and he tilted his head at her. "Hey, what's wrong? You okay?" Buneary couldn't answer; she was too busy staring at him with wide eyes. "You do remember me, right?" He smiled, straightening his head again. "I helped you get away from that nasty Ninetales."

Buneary was overwhelmed. _Too cute! Too cute! I think I'm gonna explode here!_ Unable to take how adorable this Pikachu looked smiling at her, she quickly lifted up the fluffy fur around her waist and covered her blushing face with it. "Nyah... nuh..." She knew that she was babbling nonsense now, but she simply couldn't help it.

"... Huh?"

His cute voice made her even more nervous, so, feeling far too embarrassed to stay around him, she speedily climbed to her feet, only vaguely noticing that her ankle was better, and hopped towards the exit. However, she tripped over his foot in the process and fell flat on her face.

"Ow..."

Blushing even more now, she climbed back to her feet and hopped away. Suddenly, though, she felt him yank her backwards by the same fur she was using to cover her face.

"Hey, wait!" She yelped in surprise at both the pull _and_ the yell. "What do you think you're _doing_, Buneary?"

She lowered her fur slightly to look him in the eyes... and saw that he was frowning. "Huh?"

He guided her to the entrance of the burrow they were in and pointed towards the sky. "Look up there." She looked where he was pointing and saw a large bird Pokemon flying in circles overhead. "There's a Fearow flying fifty feet above this field! If you go out there now, it'll swoop down and grab you in an instant!"

Buneary blinked at him. _Oh, wow..._ she thought, extremely flattered,_ he still cares about me... even __**now**__, after that Ninetales from before is __**long**__ gone! I feel so special!_ She paused. _But he's right, though... it'd be stupid of me to __**go**__ anywhere right now... even though I feel __**way**__ too embarrassed to stay __**here**__..._

The Pikachu moved in front of her and, using both his paws, pushed her backwards. The force sent her flying before she landed on her rear at the other end of the burrow, which she now realised was filled with a nest made of twigs and leaves. The action, however, left her speechless. "So stay here, where it's safe... at least until the coast is clear... okay?"

Buneary felt her face heat up again, so, once again, she pulled her fur up over her face, giggling hysterically as she did so; not only had she been lucky enough to find a Pokemon who cared enough about her to save her life, but he'd brought her back to his burrow, was continuing to protect her and, not to mention, was incredibly cute! Arceus truly _was_ smiling down on her today!

* * *

Pikachu watched the strange rabbit Pokemon as she giggled hysterically behind her fur... and wondered what the heck could possibly be wrong with her. All he'd done was tell her to stay put for her own safety... Well, he knew she must be feeling grateful for him saving her life... but this was just being ridiculous. Never before had he seen such odd behaviour in a Pokemon. He was completely baffled here.

"Um... Pikachu?" the Buneary's muffled voice asked.

"Y-Yeah?" he replied, slightly unnerved by her strange antics.

She pulled her fur down just below her eyes and peeked out at him. "Why did you save me?"

He blinked at her. "Huh?"

Closing her eyes, she swayed from side to side, her dark face now glowing a bright red colour. "From... from the Ninetales... Why?"

"Oh..." He smiling sheepishly and scratched the back of his neck. "Heh heh... right..." He lowered his paw. "Well, you can thank the elder Raichu of my clan for that."

She opened her eyes again and looked directly at him. "Hmm? Why's that?"

Pikachu smiled in remembrance as he looked towards the ceiling of his burrow. "Because he's the one who lived by the motto 'In times of danger, always think of others before yourself... and give help to those who need it most.' It's what inspired me to leap into action."

He looked back at the Buneary to see that her dark eyes were practically sparkling at this announcement; she was looking at him with fascination and wonder... and his uneasy feeling returned. Just why was she looking at him like that? Did he really impress her that much? Well, sure, saving her life was a big deal and all, but still... one would've thought that she'd just thank him and be done with it.

"Um... how long do you think that Fearow will be there?" Her voice was very quiet, but he still managed to hear it.

He sighed. "I've no idea. Fearow can stay airborne for hours without ever stopping to rest... so it might be there a while." He paused for a moment. "Maybe you should stay the night." Her eyes widened. "I mean... the Fearow will probably only rest when night falls... but that's when the Noctowl come out to hunt."

The Buneary continued to stare at him for a moment, then nodded once. "Okay..."

Pikachu sighed again, sitting himself down. "If it's safe in the morning, then that'll be the best time for you to leave." She nodded again in response. Now, having said enough on the matter, he grabbed an Oran berry. "Come over here and eat something. You're probably hungry." He gestured to the pile of Oran berries and Persim berries again, this being a completely fresh batch from the pile of Oran berries that he'd picked at lunchtime. "I picked a few extra than I normally would while you were unconscious, so there's plenty for us to share."

In a very swift movement, the Buneary got to her feet, covering her face with her fur again, and slowly danced her way over to him on her tiptoes. He sat there, staring at her, while she stopped to peek at him once more before again throwing up her fur, dancing on the spot and giggling hysterically. She then tilted towards him with her eyes closed, her fur below her eyes again, and, as soon as he realised that she was about to lean on him, he angled his body away from her, prompting her to lean on his side. Looking strangely contended, she then slid all the way to the ground, landing in a sitting position, and stayed like that. He waited for a moment, even more unnerved than before, to see if she would do anything else... but she didn't move, so he eventually came to the conclusion that she just wasn't bothered about the food. He sighed again; she was such a weird Pokemon...


	2. I Need You

Author's note: Yo, peeps. I'm back again with another chapter!

Okay, firstly, for all the people wondering why I had the Pokemon shout their attack names last chapter, I suggest you watch the one and only episode of Pokemon Mystery Dungeon. That's the only episode where their language is translated and they really do shout their attack names. :)

Lastly, the chapter title is a song by Leanne Rimes. I was searching for a song title to fit this chapter and this is what I found... and, listening to it, it's not a bad song. :)

EDIT: When this chapter was originally written, I didn't make a certain attack hurt as much as it should have done. It has bothered me continuously since then, so, when I reached chapter 13, I decided it needed changing. XD It's more painful now.

**Chapter Two: I Need You**

Buneary slowly opened her eyes, yawning as she did so, and rubbed away the sleep with her brown paws. Wow, that was the best dream she'd ever had; a male Pikachu had acted as her knight in shining armour, saving her very heroically from a vicious mother Ninetales before carrying her very gentleman-like back to his burrow. She smiled, snuggling into the nest she was lying on, feeling genuinely happy, yet slightly disappointed that it hadn't been real. She stretched her arms and legs, waking up all of her senses, but froze in place when she picked up the scent of another Pokemon in the burrow.

_Oh... Arceus..._ she thought, suddenly very scared, the adrenaline pumping through her veins; whoever it was, he was male and directly behind her. _What do I do? What do I __**do**__?_ Fine-tuning her ears, she listened very hard to see if he was any threat to her... and she heard very low breathing, as if he was sleeping. She turned her body round to take a look and her eyes widened as she saw the back of a Pikachu, his lightning bolt tail splayed out over the nest and his body moving up and down in a peaceful rhythm. Buneary blinked. _Is that...?_ The Pikachu stirred in his sleep and Buneary jumped backwards in shock. _Oh, my Arceus, it is! It's the Pikachu who saved me from the Ninetales! It wasn't a dream __**after**__ all!_ She let out a loud squeal, throwing her paws over her mouth.

The Pikachu suddenly sat bolt upright, looking left and right at a rapid speed. "_What_?" he asked in a frenzied panic. "_What is it_? _What's wrong_?" Buneary sat perfectly still, her paws seemingly frozen over her mouth. He looked at her, his dark eyes as wide as they could possibly go. "Buneary?"

Buneary slowly shook her head. "N... Nothing, Pikachu..."

Both his eyelids and his long ears drooped as he tilted his head and gave her a half-glazed look of confusion. It was then that she saw how tired he looked. "Huh?"

Buneary felt her face grow hot with embarrassment, so she instinctively reached for the cream-coloured fur around her waist and pulled it up over her eyes. "I'm sorry... n-nothing's wrong..."

Suddenly realising that she wanted to see his expression, she pulled her fur down just below her eyes... but, quite frankly, he looked too tired to _form_ an expression. "... Oh..." He yawned and stretched before scratching his side. "Then why'd you scream?"

She pulled her fur back over her eyes. _Arceus, what he must think of me..._ "Um... well... uh... nothing... It... it doesn't matter..."

There was a pause before she heard him sigh. "Okay... whatever..." He was silent again, but Buneary could hear a lot of rustling and movement. She lowered her fur again to see what was going on; he was standing by the entrance of the burrow, looking in all directions, checking for predators. "Hmm... looks like the coast is clear." He turned to her and smiled, his ears perking back up again. "You're safe to leave now, Buneary."

Buneary's heart plummeted; she had to leave him now? Her saviour? Her knight in shining armour? The... the Pokemon she'd fallen so hard for? Her heart skipped a beat as her mind replayed that last thought; she'd fallen for him? Arceus, she hadn't even realised until now... She hadn't even been thinking straight last night when she'd done that crazy dance and leaned on him... All she'd had on her mind was the uncontrollable urge to feel her saviour's skin against her own... feel his warmth... feel his beating heart... Her face flushed; it'd been a wonderful feeling. To lose all of that now... was unthinkable... and unbearable.

Tears burned the corners of her eyes; she didn't want to leave him... she adored him... Plus, she was safe with him; if she ventured back into the wild alone, she wouldn't stand a chance... The last time she did that, she was nearly caught by a Ninetales...

She lowered her voice to a mere whisper. "Pikachu..."

"Hmm?" The smile disappeared from his face. "Hey, what's wrong? What-?"

Buneary couldn't take this anymore; he obviously wouldn't want her to stay. Why would he? She'd only be a burden and drag him down... just as she'd done with her clan... As much as she wanted to stay with him, she just couldn't do that to him... she had to leave. She stood up, knowing that her ankle was fine to put weight on again, and hopped away, past the Pikachu and out the entrance, never looking back.

* * *

Pikachu watched with a mixed feeling of confusion and sadness as the Buneary hopped out of his burrow and out of sight without even saying goodbye. She'd seemed really upset when he'd told her that she was safe to leave... he'd even seen tears in her eyes. Did she want to stay? He glanced back into his burrow; he didn't have an awful lot of room in here. It was fairly roomy for one Pokemon of his size, but rather snug for two; it was better for the Buneary to leave and go back to her own burrow or whatever accommodation she lived in... but... He glanced back outside; she'd looked really upset at having to leave... so upset that she hadn't even said goodbye...

He sighed awkwardly, his ears drooping again, though not because of fatigue this time... more like because a guilty feeling was eating away at his heart. Could she honestly survive on her own? He was a strong Pokemon with powerful attacks and had gotten a lot of practice over the past year at surviving on his own... but she'd almost been killed the previous day... Could that happen again?

* * *

Buneary hopped further and further away from her saviour's burrow, the place she'd considered paradise; there was no way she could survive on her own... she knew that. She was doomed to die in the jaws of a predator Pokemon much bigger and stronger than she was... and, just as bad, she'd probably never get to see the object of her affections ever again... the only Pokemon she'd ever fallen so deeply for... and that thought tore at her heart like the razor-sharp talon of a bird of prey.

_Oh, Pikachu..._ she thought sadly, _why did our time together have to be so short?_

* * *

Pikachu sat in his nest of twigs and leaves and stared out the entrance of his burrow, his ears still in their drooped position; it couldn't have been that long since the Buneary had left him alone here... but it felt like a long time. He'd waited a while, hoping that maybe she'd come back... and at least wish him a proper goodbye, since they'd sort of become friends... but no... she hadn't come back.

He sighed to himself; who knows where she was by now. She'd probably hopped as far away as possible... although he did have to admit that it'd be for the best... but... something was still bothering him. He looked up at the ceiling of his burrow; he'd never had company in his little abode before... and the last time he was living with someone was when he was living with his family... His heart tightened in his chest at the thought of them.

"_Hey!" his sister said angrily at his brother. "Give that back! It's mine!"_

_His brother stuck his tongue out at her before taking a bite out of the red apple he was holding. "Too slow, sis," he replied smugly._

"_Why, you little-!" His sister flung herself at his brother and the two rolled around on the floor, swatting at each other with their paws._

_He, feeling like the only sane sibling in the family, smacked a paw to his head while his mother laughed and his father tried to break them up._

He looked back down at the floor and shook his head, attempting to shake away the memories... though not because they were _bad_ memories... but because they were _good_ memories that reminded him of happier times...

_I don't like being alone..._ he thought. He'd always tried to keep that thought away, but it always came back to haunt him. He _didn't_ like being alone... he knew that... but thinking it always made the pain in his heart hurt worse... He raised his head again and looked back outside his burrow. _Maybe I should go find Buneary... I'm worried about her..._ He paused before gulping nervously. _And I guess I should find out if she really __**did**__ want to stay here..._ His mouth twisted into a very small smile. _I certainly wouldn't mind that. It'd be kinda strange to me, but... maybe it'd be fun._

* * *

Buneary slowed to a stop and looked around her. She sighed; oh, great... she was lost. Sitting down below the nearest tree, she placed her paws on her chin, leaning her elbows on her legs, and sighed again; well, at least she was a fair distance away from that Pikachu's burrow... but what was she to do now? She had no idea where she was... she'd just hopped as fast as she could in a completely random direction.

_Urgh..._ she thought irritably, _why didn't I just hop in the direction of __**my**__ burrow? I have a burrow too... I could've just headed in __**that**__ direction... but no... Why do I always get so... air-headed when it comes to that Pikachu?_

Suddenly, her long brown ears picked up the sound of something _very_ big _very_ close by... and she froze in fear. She turned her head very slowly in the direction of the noise... and what she saw terrified the fur off her; standing only five feet away was a menacing-looking Houndoom and its Houndour cub... both male by the scent of them.

"Well, hello..." the Houndoom said, smirking evilly. "I'm here to teach my boy how to hunt. I hope you don't mind."

The Houndour smirked just as evilly. "I can't wait."

_Oh... crud..._ Buneary thought, desperately willing her legs to move. _Come on, girl! Move!_ Panicked, she jumped to her feet and stood her ground, attempting to stare down her newest predators. _Okay... give them a warning, then make a run for it..._ She thumped the ground with her foot, then turned and hopped away as fast as possible, back in the direction she'd come from.

"After her!" the Houndoom's deep voice yelled before she heard all four pairs of feet chase after her.

_No... no... not again!_ Tears clouded her eyes; it was only the day after the Ninetales had chased her and now, _already_, she was fleeing for her life _again_... She was certain that no one would save her this time... Arceus had only let her live that once to meet the Pokemon of her dreams, then let her fall prey to the next predator that came her way. _I'm going to die, I'm going to die..._ She turned her head to look at her assailants: two dark/fire types. She whipped her head back round to watch where she was going. There was no way she'd be able to take them both out; she was only a normal type and all she knew was Dizzy Punch, which was a normal-type attack. She was doomed. She could try, but the result would probably just be the same as yesterday... Tears dripped down her face. _Someone help me..._

"Take her out, son!"

"Okay, here goes!" the Houndour replied eagerly. "Shadow Ball!"

Buneary was in mid-hop when she suddenly felt the dark ball of energy smack her in the back and drive her forward, straight towards a tree. She screamed her lungs out in terror.

* * *

Pikachu froze on the spot; he'd just heard a Buneary scream... and the thought terrified him. Was it the same Buneary that he'd saved yesterday? Was she being attacked again, so soon after the Ninetales? His heart pounded against his ribcage.

"Oh, Arceus, no..." he said quietly to himself, setting off running as fast as his four limbs could carry him. "Please, no..." His arms and legs pumped faster and faster against the grass, his determination driving him forward in a desperate rush. "Buneary!"

* * *

Buneary climbed to her feet, her torso very sore from her crash into the tree trunk, and turned towards the Houndoom and Houndour that were hunting her. Fine... if this was how it was going to be, then she'd have to face them and fight like the Pokemon she was. She'd most likely lose, but at least she'll have tried.

_The less I feel like a weakling when I die, the better,_ she thought.

"Great work, son!" the Houndoom said. "Now, finish her off!"

The Houndour leapt forward. "Gladly, Dad!" he replied. "Flamethrower!" He shot a blast of flames from his mouth that shot straight towards Buneary.

_Oh, Arceus, oh, Arceus, oh, Arceus!_ Buneary thought as she saw it drawing closer and closer.

"Thunderboooolt!" a voice called out before a blast of electricity came shooting from nearby and collided with the Flamethrower. The two attacks pushed against one another for a moment before exploding and casting a thin grey cloud of smoke over the area.

Buneary gasped. _That sounded like a Pikachu! Could it be...?_ As soon as the cloud disappeared, a male Pikachu ran in front of her, throwing out his paws in a protective stance... and she recognised his scent. "Pikachu!"

"Sorry, guys... but Flamethrower's already been used on this Buneary. Try to be more original."

Buneary's face glowed red and her paws flew to her mouth; he'd saved her _again_... he really _had_... She simply couldn't believe it... Was she dreaming?

"Ugh! You pest!" the Houndoom snarled, stepping forward. "I'm teaching my son how to hunt... and I'm not about to let you interfere!"

The Pikachu took up the same defensive stance that he'd taken up the previous day. "You just try it, dog boy. I won't let you hurt Buneary."

The Houndoom growled at him. "Dark Pulse!" He shot two streams of purple light that were twisting round each other straight towards the Pikachu. It smacked into him, causing him to fly backwards and smack into Buneary, who smacked into the tree again.

"Ow..." He rubbed his head. "Sorry, Buneary. Get behind the tree where it's safe." Buneary didn't argue; he was much stronger than she was, so she hopped behind the tree obediently. The Pikachu chuckled dryly. "Is that all you got?"

The Houndour growled. "Leave my dad alone!" he shouted. "Fire Fang!" Flames surrounded his fangs before he charged straight for the Pikachu.

The Pikachu jumped up just in time, somersaulted in mid-air, bounced off the Houndour's head, spun round in mid-air, then landed on his feet, all before the Houndour had chance to chomp down on him. Buneary felt like squealing at how awesomely cool that'd looked.

"Thunderboooolt!" The Pikachu once again electrocuted his foe with his powerful electric attack. The Houndour screamed in pain.

"Why, you!" the Houndoom snarled angrily, charging forward. "Giga Impact!"

The Houndoom suddenly glowed with a purple light with yellow swirling round it before he slammed straight into the Pikachu, who was hurled straight for the tree. The Houndour jumped out of the way before the Pikachu smacked into it with a sickening bang.

Buneary flinched. Then, as she watched her injured saviour climbing _very_ slowly back to his feet... shuddering slightly as he did so... anger seized her heart; how dare they do that to him! How dare they! She wasn't about to let them get away with that!

She jumped out of her hiding place and hurled herself at the Houndoom. "Dizzy Punch!" she yelled, pummelling him with her long ears... then she made one ear give him a huge smack, which sent him skidding backwards, before landing on her feet again.

He swayed from side to side on the spot, his eyes out of focus. "Hey... since when were there three Buneary here?"

"Dad!" the Houndour yelled in worry. He then turned to Buneary, looking very angry. "You confused my dad! How dare you! Overheat!"

A huge blast of fire erupted from his mouth and shot towards Buneary. She was so overwhelmed that he'd attacked her with such a powerful move that she couldn't dodge. It slammed into her and sent her flying backwards until she smacked into the tree. The pain was excruciating. Every muscle in her body ached. Sliding down the tree, her vision swam she saw the Pikachu standing next to her, looking horrified.

"Hyper Beam!" the Houndoom suddenly yelled.

She snapped her head back to him, losing all sense of tiredness as she did so, and saw a bright orange beam shooting from his mouth. However, he was so confused that he was falling all over the place... and the Hyper Beam was destroying everything around them. Branches were falling off trees, leaves on the trees were being singed and all manner of Pokemon above ground level were shrieking in protest.

"Dad! Stop it! Snap out of it!"

"... This has gone on long enough..." the Pikachu said quietly, but with utmost seriousness etched into every word. Buneary looked at him and saw that his brows were furrowed, his teeth were gritted and his fists were clenched. Suddenly, his red cheeks started sparking with a great amount of electricity. "I said... _enough_! Thundeeeer... _boooolt_!"

The most powerful Thunderbolt attack yet soared from Pikachu's body, crackling in its intensity, and completely engulfed the two dark/fire-type Pokemon. They both screamed in pure agony as it ripped through their bodies before a colossal explosion sent them flying through the air and over the horizon.

As the Pikachu breathed very heavy breaths in an attempt to calm himself down, Buneary couldn't help but stare at him in awe; that was the single most amazing thing... no... _he_ was the single most amazing _Pokemon_ she'd ever seen...

She remained silent for a moment, her paws once again covering her mouth... then she could no longer contain herself. "That was amazing!" she yelled, flinging her paws into the air. She jumped to her feet and grinned at him. He looked at her, still breathing heavily, and managed a small smile. Buneary giggled hysterically. "We did it! We did it! Yay!" She grabbed his paws with her own and spun him round in circles in pure joy, hopping up and down and she did so. "We beat those nasty predators! We beat those nasty predators!"

* * *

Pikachu was shell-shocked... and getting very dizzy. Just what was this nutcase of a Buneary _doing_, spinning him around like this? Sure, she must be really happy after that battle, but Arceus! This was too much! He hated having no control and this is exactly how he felt now, with his feet off the floor and his body spinning in circles.

"Hey!" he shouted. "Knock it off! Put me down!" After a couple more spins, she stopped her crazy victory dance and put him back down, much to his relief. She was still grinning from ear to ear, though. "Ugh! Are you crazy? Don't do that again!" Feeling an uncomfortable churning in his stomach, he averted his eyes. "Ugh... I feel sick now..." He glanced back at her, but the shock and horror of what his saw caused his breath to catch in his throat and his paw to fly to his mouth; she'd stopped grinning and there were tears in her eyes. When she made a slight sobbing noise, guilt consumed him. "Oh, Arceus..." Attempting to smile, he reached out and patted her shoulder. "I'm sorry... please don't cry..." She turned away from him and sobbed, tears running down her face. He flinched back, his smile dropping into a guilty grimace. "Ah! No... no... please don't cry... I'm sorry... I shouldn't have yelled..." He felt so awkward doing this; comforting just wasn't a role he was used to... but it was making his heart ache to know that he'd made a girl cry. Suddenly, he had an idea, so he relaxed his body and tried smiling again. "Hey, listen... I'm sorry about earlier too. After you left, I got the feeling you wanted to keep living with me... so... if you do... then I don't mind."

The tears ceased flowing, though still clung to her eyes, as she looked at him. "R... Really?" she asked.

He smiled wider and nodded. "Yeah. In fact, I'm sure I'll _enjoy_ it."

This seemed enough to vanquish the tears, as a huge smile appeared on her face. She bounced up and down, her paws covering her chin cutely. "Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!"

He chuckled; he'd been right all along. She _had_ wanted to keep living with him. "No problem. It'll be nice to finally have some company." The Buneary giggled. "Now... how about we go get ourselves some breakfast?"


	3. Mr Wonderful

Author's note: Hi! I'm back with a new chapter, thank Arceus. XD Stupid college is holding me back lately and I'm growing tired of it extremely quickly.

In other news, I've decided to get a beta-reader! If you wish for beta-read for me (or know someone who might want to), then please do let me know.

Also, there are some strange new phrases of my own invention in this chapter to do with legendary Pokemon. Props to you if you can guess the phrases' real-life counterparts! (Dedication goes to Nintendo Mania for planting the idea in my head.) The chapter didn't quite turn out as I'd originally planned, but never mind. Lol. I'll just add everything I missed out into the next chapter.

Lastly, the chapter title is a song by Smile.

**Chapter Three: Mr. Wonderful**

Buneary felt her face of brown fur burn, both from excitement and embarrassment, at the thought of where she was at the current moment; she was lying on the male Pikachu's _back_ as he carried her to whatever destination he was heading for...

She really couldn't believe this; it had turned out that the male Houndour's Overheat had done far more damage to her than she'd originally thought. The Pikachu had suggested that they get some breakfast, which she'd instantly agreed to, so he'd set off in his chosen direction and she'd hopped after him. Unfortunately for her, after the first few hops, she'd started to feel extremely worn out, the forest spinning before her eyes, every muscle in her body aching... and she'd lost her balance and fallen flat on her face. The Pikachu had been in a state of panic for a minute, asking if she was okay... but, since she'd told him that she was fine, but couldn't walk, he'd picked her up and carried her on his back.

She buried her face in his yellow fur. "I'm so sorry, Pikachu..." she mumbled.

Pikachu chuckled. "Don't worry about it, Buneary," he replied. "You took a hit from a Shadow Ball, a hit from a Dark Pulse and a direct hit from an Overheat. You're _bound_ to feel exhausted."

"But... I didn't even _notice_ much at first. Why _was_ that?"

"... Hmm... well, you were extremely happy at the time... so I think all of your attention was focused on how happy you were."

"Hmm... yeah, maybe..." She paused. "Wait... you were hit with far _worse_ attacks... You took a direct hit from a Dark Pulse _and_ a direct hit from a Giga Impact." She paused again, her eyes widening. "How did you manage to stand up again?"

"Sheer determination." He half-turned towards her and smiled, although it looked slightly pained. "I hate to admit it, but the Giga Impact did a number on me... It was the most painful attack I've ever been hit with..." Buneary's breath caught in her throat the same time the Pikachu's head turned back round. "But I knew I had to get back up again... I knew I couldn't stay down... because I needed to protect you." He paused for a moment. "It was very painful getting back onto my feet... _incredibly_ painful... but I felt _driven_ to protect you... because I knew-"

He stopped mid-sentence, most likely catching himself before he said something hurtful, but she knew what he was going to say: 'because I knew that you couldn't protect _yourself_'. Her heart simultaneously jumped and sank; he'd struggled through his pain to protect her, like a true hero, proving that he truly cared about her... but, if she hadn't been so weak in the first place, she'd have been able to defend _herself_ and wouldn't have had to put him through that...

Her mood slowly spiralling downwards, she began to think about what had happened before the Pikachu had suggested that they go for breakfast; she'd been so elated about how he'd managed, against all odds, to beat the Houndoom and Houndour that, not even noticing the condition she'd been in, she'd grabbed his paws and spun him in circles. Unfortunately, he hadn't liked that in the slightest, so he'd yelled at her. This had really upset her at the time, as it had only served to remind her how utterly worthless she was. Not only had she managed to _annoy_ the Pokemon that she held so much affection for, but said Pokemon that she held so much affection for had _yelled_ at her.

As she'd watched the Pikachu scowl at her, his face contorted in anger, a quote from the mouth of the alpha Lopunny of her clan had been running through her mind... and she'd almost been able to picture said alpha Lopunny standing right beside the Pikachu, that same expression of anger and hatred on his face.

"_You're so weak and pathetic, you make __**Magikarp**__ look strong. You're clearly only alive to annoy others and drag them down... otherwise, Mew must have created you for nothing."_

She looked down at the Pikachu, suddenly wondering why he'd stuck his neck out for her so much... saving her when she had nothing to do with him... He'd _said_ that it was because of something that the elder Raichu of his clan had said... and, although she'd found this amazingly touching when she'd first heard it, it was still rather strange. That was the only reason that he'd saved her life, then saved her life _again_?

She sighed, burying her face in his yellow fur again; this Pikachu was the most special Pokemon that she'd ever met in her life. In _her_ eyes, he was the absolute perfect mate... which was the main reason that she liked him as much as she did. After all, he had all the qualities of a warrior... being brave, strong, smart, agile and extremely durable... _and_ all the qualities of a gentleman... being sweet, sensitive, kind and caring. What qualities did _she_ have? She was timid, weak, stupid, sluggish and fairly fragile. She wanted to be his mate very much, considering that he'd saved her life twice and that their two species could breed... but was she really worthy of him?

* * *

Pikachu cringed as he walked; he was aching all over from those attacks... particularly the Houndoom's Giga Impact... but, being a gentleman, he'd opted to carry the Buneary on his back after she'd collapsed from exhaustion. Unfortunately, the extra weight... and holding said weight up with his arms... was only making the aching feeling in his muscles worse.

Suddenly, his body shuddered under the pressure and he had to stop a moment to regain his composure, shifting the Buneary's weight slightly as his did so; he honestly didn't know how much more of this he could take... but, if he could just hold out a little longer...

The Buneary's grip on his shoulders tightened slightly. "What's the matter, Pikachu?" she asked in a quiet voice. "Are you okay?"

He regained his composure, attempting to hide his immense discomfort. "Yeah, I'm fine," he replied, continuing on his walk. "I was just-"

All of a sudden, he felt his body give in under the weight. He fell forward, collapsing to his knees... yet his his face keep falling. Panicking, he instinctively let go of the Buneary and threw his arms out in front of him to stop his face from hitting the floor. At the same time his paws hit the grass, he felt the Buneary slide backwards off him and land with a slight thud behind him.

"Pikachu! Are you okay?"

He inhaled deeply, hissing through his teeth as he did so. _Well, so much for holding out..._ he thought. "Yeah... yeah, I'm fine." He gritted his teeth and forced himself to stand back up again. He then motioned to the Buneary. "Come on, climb back on. We're almost there."

He was greeted with silence, so he turned to look at the Buneary... and froze when he saw that she had tears in her eyes again. She then shook her head furiously. "No! It's _my_ fault you're in so much pain! I'm the reason you were fighting that Houndoom and Houndour in the first place and... and now you're having to carry me, because I had to go and collapse! You shouldn't be carrying me after what you went through!" She paused a moment to sniffle before forcing herself to her feet, shaking and wobbling with every movement. He flinched at how painful it appeared to be for her, but, once she'd steadied herself, she looked determined. "I won't let you carry me anymore... I... I'll walk."

He stared at her, completely in awe of both her willpower and her sensitivity towards his pain. "Are you sure?" She nodded, the look in her eyes telling him that she was completely serious. He smiled at her, grateful, but also not wanting to get in the way of her pride. "Okay." She then smiled back at him, her eyes holding an unfamiliar emotion that made them sparkle like the bright spring sun above them. It was then that a thought sprang to his mind, so he tilted his head at her in confusion. "Wait, don't you mean _hop_? Buneary can't _walk_, can they?"

The Buneary giggled. "Of _course_ they can! See?" She walked a few slow steps forward, until she was standing next to him. He made sure to turn his body towards her to keep eye contact. "They just prefer to hop. It feels more natural... but I don't think I have the _energy_ to hop right now."

Pikachu laughed. "Yeah. Well, that's fair enough." He smiled again. "Come on, let's go."

* * *

Buneary's intrigue as to where exactly the Pikachu was leading her disappeared as soon as they emerged into a clearing... and she was awestruck by how beautiful the view was; in front of her was a crystal clear lake, its reflective surface shimmering in the morning sunlight. Various trees and bushes simply covered in berries lined the edges of it, many different-coloured flowers were dotted in various places and Pokemon of many different species were gathered both in and around the water, either drinking, washing, sunbathing or collecting their breakfast.

The Pikachu walked ahead of her, straight into a large patch of shade that a tree covered in rock-hard Aspear berries was casting over the grass. He then dropped onto his rear and heaved a great sigh.

"Made it," he muttered, both looking and sounding utterly exhausted.

Buneary pitied him... she truly did... but she thought that it might be best to leave him alone for the time being. After all, she'd already served justice by refusing to let him carry her anymore, despite how exhausted she was herself... and she'd done herself proud by doing that... Plus, she felt that he deserved the rest.

She walked over to the shaded area, landed on her rear next to him and sighed herself. "This place is amazing," she said. "I mean, I've seen the lake before, obviously... but I'm sure it's never looked this beautiful before."

The Pikachu fell onto his back, groaning slightly in his pain, but he smiled nonetheless. "Yeah... it's great here. It's my favourite section of the lake. Wide open space, a great view, berries everywhere you look..." He pointed upwards. "And shade."

Drawn in by the comfort of the grass and the desire to lie next to him, Buneary lay down on her back, staring up at the tree above her. "I can see why you like it so much."

She felt so comfortable and contended... she could just close her eyes and fall asleep... Her eyelids touched the base of her eyes and, because she felt so completely relaxed and safe, she was all set for a nice nap. Nothing bad would happen while she was with this Pikachu... nothing at all...

Suddenly, there was an Arceus-awful clunk. "Ow!" Buneary snapped her eyes back open, shot bolt upright and looked worriedly at the Pikachu, who was curled up and rubbing his head. "Palkia Space Lord!"

Buneary blushed at the Pikachu's foul language. "Pikachu!" She then spotted an Aspear berry lying next to his head. Looking up to see the other Aspear berries above her, she realised that it must have fallen off. Her heart thumped in panic as she looked back at the Pikachu. "Oh, my Arceus, are you okay?"

The Pikachu growled slightly and glared up at the tree. "Aipom! Would you quit throwing Aspear berries at me, already? They hurt, you know!"

Buneary felt confused for a moment, until she heard a rustling sound above her, which was followed by manic laughter. She looked up to see that an Aipom... whose scent told her that she was a female... had poked her head out of the leaves.

"Aww, but Pikachu..." the Aipom cooed, grinning like a loon, "I thought you knew that's how I _like_ to greet you now." She cackled again, dropping out of the tree, yet still clinging onto the tree branch with her tail. She swung back and forth in a taunting manner. "You don't come visit me much, anyway. I figured it'd be an exciting way to greet you whenever you _did_ visit."

Buneary was shell-shocked. _She likes to __**attack Pikachu** with __**Aspear berries**__?_ she thought, too horrified for words.

The Pikachu sat up, still rubbing his head. "Yeah, well... please don't do it anymore, okay? Every time I come here, I get assaulted with Aspear berries."

The Aipom continued to grin. "Then why come here?" She then spotted Buneary. "Oh! Hello there. I've never seen _you_ before. You new to this part of the forest?"

"Y-Yeah..." Buneary replied, slightly worried about also being greeted with an Aspear berry to the face.

Pikachu gestured towards her. "This is my new friend, Buneary," he said. He then faced her and gestured towards the Aipom. "And Buneary, this is my friend, Aipom."

The Aipom cackled. "Pointless introduction, but never mind!" she said. She then waved. "Hi!" Buneary barely had time to wave back before the Aipom let go of the branch, somersaulted and landed on her tail, posing. "Another perfect landing!" She grinned at the Pikachu, but her smile suddenly faded. "Hey... what happened to _you_, Pikachu? You look like you've just gone ten rounds with a Hitmonchan."

The Pikachu pulled a face and glanced in the other direction. "Giga Impact..."

The Aipom's eyes widened. "_Giga Impact_? You got hit with a _Giga Impact_?" She paused a moment. "Wow... it's amazing that you're still intact, let alone sitting up..." She paused a moment, apparently processing this unusual piece of news, before bouncing around, her arms and legs flailing in mid-air, since her tail was still holding her up. "That is _amazing_! You are one _seriously_ hardcore Pokemon!" Her dark brown eyes started to sparkle in awe. "I am not _worthy_! I bow down to your awesomeness and promise never to throw Aspear berries or any other kind of berries at you again! I-" Someone above them suddenly cleared their throat, causing everyone to look up in curiosity. An Ambipom... female, by the scent of her... had poked her head out of the leaves and was frowning in disapproval at the Aipom. The Aipom grinned and waved at her. "Hey, Mom!"

"Could you turn down the volume, sweetie?" the Ambipom asked, looking thoroughly irritated, but obviously trying to stay polite. "Your cousin's still asleep."

The Aipom cackled. "Oh, not him again." She turned to Buneary. "I have this one particular cousin, see? And he's the most boring, annoying Aipom that you ever did meet." She laughed, swaying to and fro on her tail. "He's so stiff and pompous. It's always his way or the highway." She looked back at her mother. "Right, Mom?"

The Ambipom scowled at her. "Just keep the noise down, okay?" She then disappeared back amongst the leaves.

"Yeah, monkey girl!" a voice suddenly said. Everyone turned to see a Marill swimming up to them, an amused smile on its face... and by the scent of her, she was a female. She swam up to the edge of the lake, leaned on the side, then turned her paw sideways and placed it against her mouth. "Keep quiet."

The Aipom stuck her tongue out at the Marill. "Very nosy, aren't we, little aqua mouse?"

The Marill giggled, putting her paw back down. "Indeed we are." She then looked at the Pikachu. "Hey, Pikachu! How's it going?" She paused to pull a face. "Ugh. What _happened_ to you?"

"Hey, Marill," Pikachu replied. "Everything's fine." He then paused a moment before shaking his head. "Eh, don't worry about this." He gestured to his injured body. "I just got hit with a really powerful attack this morning. I'll be fine."

"He's so modest!" the Aipom chirped. "He got hit with a Giga Impact."

The Marill gasped and nearly fell over on the water's surface. "A _what_?" The Pikachu grinned sheepishly at her. "A _Giga Impact_?" The Pikachu nodded, his expression telling Buneary that he really hadn't wanted to explain that again. "Oh, my Arceus! How on Earth did you _survive_ that?"

"How indeed," a voice suddenly said, causing Buneary to jump. She spun round to look at who'd spoken and saw a Pachirisu walking towards them with an amused smirk on its face... and the scent told Buneary that she was also a female.

"Dialga Time Lord..." the Marill said, her fretful tone telling Buneary that she'd also just jumped at the sound of the voice.

The Pachirisu walked closer before leaning on the nearby tree in a rather arrogant matter and giving the Pikachu a look of intrigue. "_Mmmm_... you're surely something if you can take being hit by a Giga Impact."

"Oh, Arceus, not _you_..." the Aipom said coldly.

The Pachirisu shook her head. "Tsk tsk tsk. Now, Aipom... you shouldn't go around blasphemising your almighty lord."

The Aipom growled. "Watch it, rodent."

"Pfft... uh, I think you'll find that I'm a _squirrel_... and that your insult applies more to some _other_ Pokemon here than it does to _me_." The Pachirisu glanced over at Buneary and the Pikachu for a moment, then chuckled. "Speaking of which..." She tilted her head and smirked wider, looking from the Aipom to the Marill and back again. "Why have neither of you dimwits suggested that these two get themselves a few Sitrus berries each?" She indicated to the side of her with her paw. Buneary looked and, sure enough, there was a bush of Sitrus berries nearby. "They look like they're on their last legs and you don't even bother to offer them any health-restoring berries?" She straightened her head again and chuckled. "Pathetic."

The Aipom growled again and Buneary looked at her just in time to see her lift her tail and land on her feet, pure hatred etched all over her face. "I just forgot, _okay_? Go to The Ruined World, Pachirisu!"

Buneary looked back at the Pachirisu and watched her narrow her eyes, the smirk never leaving her face. "Gladly."

There was a pause. "Wait... you'd _gladly_ go?" the Marill asked before pausing again. "You're a Giratinist?"

"A-yep... Quite the contrast from monkey girl, right? Since she's a Dialkian." The Pachirisu placed her paws together and made a mockingly innocent face as she stared towards the sky. "She loves and worships Arceus and his almighty sons, Dialga and Palkia... and will always strive to be good, so that, one day, she'll be accepted into The Hall Of Origin!" She put her paws back down and laughed. "Gimme a break!"

The Aipom leapt forward furiously, straight into Buneary's line of vision. "Shut your mouth, squirrel! _Your_ religion is ten times _worse_! You dedicate your life to worshipping the legendary of evil! Giratina! And, when you die, you wanna be sent to the _land_ of evil! The Ruined World! At least when _I_ die, I'll be living a _happy_ afterlife, instead of being tortured for all eternity!"

The Pachirisu waved a paw in dismissal. "Pfft... don't be stupid. You'll only be tortured in The Ruined World if you aren't _loyal_ to Giratina. _I'm_ loyal, so I'll be fine." She paused and smirked. "He's ten times cooler than your stupid Arceus, anyway."

"He is not! You take that back!"

"Come on, guys!" the Pikachu called out in an attempt to stop the arguing. "Cool it."

The Aipom turned to him. "Pikachu! Tell Pachirisu which legendary is better!"

Pikachu paused for a moment. "Uh... heh... well... to be honest, I'm open-minded. I don't like accepting or rejecting _any_ legendaries... 'cause I find it very interesting looking at it from _both_ sides..."

The Aipom groaned. "You're useless." She then turned to the Marill. "Marill?"

"Leave me out of this!" the Marill replied before there was a loud splash.

The Aipom's eyes widened. "I don't believe her! She ducked underwater and swam away, the coward!" She turned to Buneary. "Buneary? What about _you_?"

Buneary blushed, suddenly feeling extremely awkward. "Um..." she replied, "well... actually, I'm an atheist... I don't _believe_ in legendaries..." The looks on the faces of both the Aipom and the Pachirisu made her feel very embarrassed. She got to her feet and, ignoring the aching, hopped behind the Pikachu, sat back down and clung onto him. "Sorry..."

The Pachirisu sighed. "Whatever..." she said, lifting herself up from the tree. She paused for a moment before speaking again, her eyes looking somewhat dead. "... Mmm, I've gotta go, anyway; my hyperactive little brother's run off again. I'd best go find him 'before something attacks him', as my mom put it..." She paused again before lowering her voice to a mutter. "Although, nothing will _catch_ him at the speed _he_ runs, never mind _attack_ him..." She then got on all fours and ran off.

There was a moment's silence. "Mmm..." the Aipom said, staring into the distance, "_I'd_ best get back in my tree. I don't wanna annoy my mom anymore than I already _have_ done..." She then got on all fours, climbed up the tree trunk and disappeared amongst the leaves.

_... Wow, Pikachu's friends are certainly an interesting bunch..._ Buneary thought as, muscles aching, she continued to cling to the Pikachu, staring at the spot that the Aipom and Pachirisu were, just moments before, _but still... I hope I didn't upset them __**too**__ much with what I said... I mean, neither of them bothered to say goodbye... _

She sighed, then looked at the Pikachu... and, as soon as he made eye contact with her, he gave a half-smile and shrugged... Ah well... it looked like _he_ was just as lost for words as _she_ was...


	4. Sunny Day

Author's note: Hi! I am back with more glorious lagomorphshipping! :D Ain't it great? Hail the lagomorphshipping! (Lol. Excuse me. It's my ultimate favourite pairing. Can't you tell? :P)

Also, the chapter title is a song by Allure... and yes, each song's lyrics count towards the chapters too. I always make sure the lyrics match what goes on in the chapter... as best as possible, anyway. Lol.

Lastly, if you can guess what the Pikachu and Buneary's natures are in this fic from the clues I give, then... you get a cyber poffin! Lol.

**Chapter Four: Sunny Day**

Pikachu sighed in relief as he sat back down on the grass, dropping his pile of Sitrus berries next to him; he and the Buneary had just struggled through their pain to pick these... and boy, did it feel nice to sit back down and relax again. He was very much looking forward to eating them to boost his stamina, just so that he didn't have to feel this horrible muscle-clenching aching anymore. He glanced to the side of him to see the Buneary sit down next to him, also dropping a pile of berries; he couldn't afford to be this weak for long anyway, knowing how many predator Pokemon lived in this forest. He not only had _himself_ to protect now, but the Buneary too.

He picked up the nearest Sitrus berry and bit into it, watching as the Buneary did the same thing. He chewed it for a moment before an absolutely heavenly taste graced his tongue, dancing delectably over his taste buds. He felt himself smiling in pure bliss at the berry's delicious sourness; he absolutely loved sour berries... they were the food of the legendaries...

"Mmm..." he murmured before swallowing the mouthful. He licked his lips in delight and only had to wait a few seconds before he felt a strange sensation of power sweep over his body in one quick jolt. His body jerked as the immense tingling sent a shock down his spine... and, suddenly, he could no longer feel any aching. He laughed heartily, then threw a paw into the air and made a peace sign. "Oh, yeah! I'm back in business, baby!" He then lowered his paw again and took another bite of his scrumptious berry.

* * *

Buneary couldn't stop smiling to herself as she ate her Sitrus berry, each mouthful making her feel that little bit more powerful; the Pikachu sitting next to her seemed to be a big fan of sour food, judging by how happy he looked while he was eating it. It was simply adorable... and besides that, he'd shouted the word 'baby' after gaining back some power, which she liked to think was directed at _her_...

She bit into the berry again, now used to its powerful flavour, although the first bite that she'd taken had felt like a strong blast to her taste buds and had made her cringe. Despite this, though, she did like sour food, once her tongue got used to the flavour. In fact, she wasn't very fussy about her food at all; she liked any berry of any flavour. She'd only cringe if it was particularly strong, like _this_ one was... but this particular berry was revitalising her, so she certainly wasn't complaining.

"Oh, hey, Buneary?" the Pikachu said, turning to her.

"Hmm?" she replied, mid-way through chewing.

An expression of slight sorrow crossed his features. "I'm sorry about Aipom and Pachirisu earlier..." Buneary swallowed her mouthful, listening intently. "They, uh... both have _very_ strong beliefs... and, whenever they meet, there's always a conflict."

"Oh, that's a shame..." Buneary's long ears drooped. "It'd be nice if they could get along..." She then felt a nagging feeling in her heart, so she stared down at the grass. "Oh and... _I'm_ really sorry that I offended them... I didn't mean to, I just..." She paused. "I don't really _believe_ in legendaries, but... I'm not above asking them for help or thanking them for things." She looked up at the Pikachu, sadness weighing her down. "Is that a _bad_ thing?"

The Pikachu chuckled. "No, of course not. Don't worry about it, Buneary. When times are bad, you need someone to pray to... and, when things go your way, you need someone to thank. There's nothing wrong with that."

Buneary, unable to break her gaze, felt herself glowing on the inside; my Arceus, this Pikachu was simply so special that anything he said could brighten up her day. She was almost tempted to bow down and worship Arceus already, thanking him for everything that he'd given her with this Pikachu and apologising profusely for never truly believing in him before.

She shook her head to break her stare. "Thanks, Pikachu!" She grinned from ear to ear, only dimly aware of how enthusiastic she'd just sounded. He jolted back slightly, throwing her a strange look. "That means a lot!" She beamed even brighter. "Say, could you tell me more about Aipom, Marill and Pachirisu? I only just met them today, so, of course, I barely know them!"

The Pikachu relaxed his strange expression and smiled again. "Sure." He shifted his position on the grass so that his body was facing her. "Well, you've probably figured out Aipom's personality already, but... in a nutshell, she's very emotional. Whatever emotion she's feeling tends to be blown out of proportion by her outgoing personality."

"Like when she pelted you with an Aspear berry?"

The Pikachu nodded. "Exactly. When she's happy, she's a complete nutcase." Buneary giggled. "But when she's angry, look out..."

Buneary stopped giggling. "Oh... like when Pachirisu showed up."

"Yeah. Aipom hates Pachirisu more than anyone else she's ever met before... and, since she's a strict Dialkian, nothing... absolutely _nothing_... makes her angrier than someone insulting Arceus, Dialga and Palkia... and this is where I talk about Pachirisu..." He sighed heavily. "Pachirisu is religious herself, as you know... but not emotional, like Aipom. She's very level-headed and sarcastic... and she loves to mock others to the point where they're about ready to _explode_ with rage."

Buneary's eyes widened in shock. "Wow... she doesn't sound very nice."

The Pikachu let out a dry chuckle. "I think she's just bitter. I mean, she's told me before that she doesn't actually _like_ being a Pachirisu."

Buneary blinked in surprise. "She doesn't?" The Pikachu shook his head. "But why not? Pachirisu are adorable! They're one of the world's cutest Pokemon!"

"Exactly. Pachirisu is a sarcastic tomboy. She hates being small and cute. She told me once how she wishes she was born as either an Aron, a Makuhita or a Ryhorn... so that she'd, one day, become either a Aggron, a Hariyama or a Ryperior. That way, she'd be big and powerful from birth and only get bigger and stronger as she grew." He paused, then gave an uncomfortable chuckle. "That's probably the main reason why she's a Giratinist, thinking about it."

Buneary blinked again. "Huh... interesting... and what about Marill?"

The Pikachu smiled, all signs of his discomfort now gone. "Ah, Marill... Well, you probably gathered that she's somewhat of a scaredy-cat..." He paused, looking confused. "Scaredy-mouse..." He shook his head. "Ah, you know what I mean." He smiled again. "Anyway, she's very peaceful by nature... and loves nothing more than a quiet, calm atmosphere. She hates confrontation and gets terrified whenever Aipom and Pachirisu come in range of one another." He chuckled again. "She always refuses to takes sides, because she never wants to upset anybody. That's why she chose to run... I mean, swim... away instead."

"Aww." Buneary smiled warmly. "Marill sounds nice."

The Pikachu nodded. "She is. I mean, I get along with all three just fine... it's just _each other_ they have a problem with." He paused again. "_And_ that's about it." He took a bite of his Sitrus berry and chewed away at it, shifting his body back where it was and glancing out across the lake.

Buneary turned back to her own Sitrus berry, taking a bite out of it... but, while she did so, she couldn't help but think about these three female friends of the Pikachu's. First, there was the Aipom, who was clearly a good friend of his by the way the two spoke upon meeting; it was so friendly and informal, she'd have found it very strange if they hadn't known each other very well. Plus, when the Pikachu had told her about the incident with the Giga Impact, she'd gone starry-eyed, vowing to bow down and worship him as though he were a legendary Pokemon himself...

Next, she thought about the Marill, who had also had rather a friendly conversation with the Pikachu, the smiles that they'd given each other being a clear indication of a close friendship. Plus, when the Aipom had told her about the Giga Impact, she'd completely freaked out, care, worry and complete awe oozing from her voice as she asked him about the details.

Then there was the Pachirisu, who hadn't shown her emotions quite as much as the Aipom had, but had still given the Pikachu a _look_ that had clearly stated without words how impressed she was by his abilities... in an almost flirtatious manner.

Buneary suddenly felt uneasy; the Pikachu had too many female friends for her liking... all of which seemed to get along really well with him... all of which he seemed rather fond of... all of which were extremely impressed with how he was able to survive a Giga Impact... and all of which... She drew a gasp of breath in horror; Oh, Arceus... all of which could breed with him!

Oh, Arceus... oh, Arceus... oh, Arceus... how did she not figure this out sooner? She wouldn't have been quite so worried if none of them could breed with him, since it was _very_ rare for Pokemon to fall for Pokemon that they couldn't breed with! Most of the time, it was in their nature to only fall for species that they could breed with!

She was worried now... _very_ worried. What if one of them... or even all _three_ of them... had a crush on the Pikachu? How much of a chance did she stand with him, exactly? The Aipom, the Marill and the Pachirisu had obviously known him longer than _she_ had... though _how much_ longer she couldn't tell. What if... what if... what if he had a crush on one of _them_? What if she _already_ stood no chance with him, because his heart was already taken?

* * *

Pikachu happily finished off his Sitrus berry, his gaze still on the beautiful lake; he really loved Eterna Forest, particularly for this wonderful view. He watched with interest as a Corphish swam past him, being chased by a Qwilfish. The Corphish then turned around and swam backwards, laughing as it fired a Bubblebeam from its claws, but the Qwilfish ducked underwater, avoiding the attack completely. Then, a few moments later, it resurfaced again, looking blown up like a spiked balloon, and fired off a Pin Missile, which the Corphish ducked underwater and avoided. The Qwilfish made a sound of annoyance and ducked underwater to follow the Corphish. Pikachu watched and waited, but they didn't resurface again, so he just shrugged his shoulders, assuming that they'd taken their fight elsewhere.

He suddenly realised that he was still pretty hungry, so he turned his body back round to pick up another berry. He reached out his paw, but stopped at the sight of red mixed in amongst the pale yellow. He picked one up and looked at it, recognising what kind of berry it was and not feeling too happy about it.

"Uh... Buneary?" he asked slowly.

The Buneary turned to him. "Hmm?" she replied, swallowing a mouthful of her Sitrus berry.

"Did you pick some Cheri berries?"

"Oh!" The Buneary beamed at him. "Yeah! They were right near the bush of Sitrus berries, so I thought I'd pick them! You know, for some variety!" She blushed and giggled. "Go ahead! Eat one!"

Pikachu felt his long ears droop slightly in his embarrassment. "Well, I-"

The Buneary threw the rest of her Sitrus berry in her mouth and chewed it hastily before swallowing it and picking up a Cheri berry. She then held it up to his. "Cheers!"

Pikachu felt awkward, but he really didn't want to disappoint her, so he tapped his Cheri berry against hers. "Cheers."

The Buneary pulled out the green stalk on top of her Cheri berry and threw it to one side before biting into the berry. She chewed it for a moment, cringed, then continued to eat with a happy smile on her face. Pikachu, however, stared at his own Cheri berry in disgust; he really disliked Cheri berries. The spicy aftertaste that would always burn his tongue after eating one was extremely unpleasant... but... the Buneary had looked really excited about the two of them eating Cheri berries together and he really didn't want to upset her by refusing to eat it... He pulled out the berry's stalk and threw it to one side, bracing himself for the horrible taste that was about to enter his mouth.

Eventually, he managed to make himself bite into it... and a couple of seconds passed before the taste hit him and he had to restrain himself from flinching in disgust.

* * *

Buneary felt satisfied as she helped the Pikachu polish off the last of the berries, licking the mingled taste of sourness and spiciness off her tingling lips. She was definitely both full and happy this morning; she'd had a delicious breakfast and nothing had attacked either of them. This was the life.

"Hey, Buneary?" the Pikachu said.

"Yeah, Pikachu?" she replied.

The Pikachu stood up, smiling at her. "This would be a good time to drink and wash, don't you think?"

"Hmm? Oh, sure!" She stood up and hopped next to him, her energy now fully restored.

The Pikachu walked towards the lake and she walked besides him, only stopping when he stopped. "I usually drink and wash _before_ eating breakfast, but, you know..." He chuckled. "I needed an energy boost first." Buneary nodded in agreement. "Now..." He looked around him, fine-tuning his ears to the environment. "Okay, there are no threats around at the moment, but you never know when one might come along." He smiled at her. "You drink and wash first and I'll keep watch."

Buneary's eyes widened. _No, no, I don't want him to have to wait for me!_ she thought. _We should go at the same time so I don't hold him up!_ "But-"

"Trust me... it'll be _much_ safer if one of us watches the other. You take your turn first, then we'll swap, okay?"

Buneary blushed, feeling several emotions at once; she was flattered that he was willing to wait for her to go first _and_ watch over her... but she was also rather embarrassed about how he felt that he _needed_ to watch over her... and how he was sacrificing some of his drinking and washing time so that she could go first.

Avoiding his gaze, she moved closer to the lake, staring down at her reflection; a cute rabbit Pokemon with short brown fur, dark brown eyes and cream-coloured fluff on the tips of its ears stared back at her. She had to smile at that; she simply loved the fact that she'd been born as such a cute Pokemon. Honestly, she had no idea what the Pachirisu thought was so bad about it.

Suddenly remembering that she was delaying the Pikachu's drinking and washing time, she lowered her face and licked away at the cool clean water, enjoying the refreshing feeling that slid down her throat. She continued drinking until her thirst was quenched, then scooped up some water with her paws and threw it over herself, her body jolting at how cold it was. She then rubbed it into her fur, loving how clean it was making her feel. She scooped up some more and threw it on her face, rubbing it into her facial features and cleaning out all of her dirt and sleep. She did this a few more times around her body until she was sure that she'd fully cleaned herself, then she shook herself dry. Boy, that had felt good.

She then straightened up and turned to the Pikachu, who was standing behind her, looking around the forest. "Okay, I'm done." He turned to her. "Your turn."

He smiled. "Great, thanks."

He walked forward and Buneary, suddenly nervous about how close he was, quickly scooted round him to stand where he'd been standing a moment ago. He gave her another confused look, but shrugged his shoulders and leaned his face down to have a drink.

Buneary blushed as she noticed how cute he looked while he drank... Well, he looked cute _all_ the time, but... when he drank, his face just looked so peaceful... so calm... so happy... and... She suddenly snapped back to reality; Oh, Arceus, she was supposed to be standing guard over him! He was _vulnerable_ while he was drinking and washing! She quickly turned away from him, looking around the forest for any sign of a threat, turning left, right, left and right again.

Well, she couldn't see anything, but there was always a chance that something was hiding... so she fine-tuned her long ears, moving them in all directions, searching for the slightest sound that may be out of place... She waited a moment, but she couldn't hear anything either. Just as she heard a splashing sound behind her... which was obviously the Pikachu washing himself... she inhaled deeply through her nose, focusing all of her attentions on searching for an out-of-place scent. If there was a predator _anywhere_ nearby, she was determined to find it before it attacked them; she couldn't let _anything_ happen to her precious Pikachu.

_Hmm... well... I can't see, hear or smell any predator Pokemon, so..._ She smiled brightly. _I guess there aren't any around here right now!_

"Ahhh..." She looked at the Pikachu to see him shaking his yellow fur dry, an expression of pure bliss on his face. "Mmm... that felt good." He straightened up, turned to her and beamed. "Thanks for being my lookout, Buneary."

Buneary suddenly felt frozen on the spot as she looked at that beautiful... heavenly... out-of-this-world smile... on this most wonderful... amazing Pikachu... Her face heated up immensely in her happiness and embarrassment, so she quickly grabbed the fur around her waist and pulled it up to hide her rosy red cheeks. She couldn't control the insane giggle that escaped her lips.

* * *

Pikachu stared at the Buneary; jeez, she was doing it again... acting weird. Just how many times had he stared at her in utter confusion in the amount of time that he'd known her? More than he'd ever done with any _other_ Pokemon, that was for sure. He watched her as she swayed from side to side behind her fluffy fur, giggling like an absolute maniac, and wondered where her sanity lay.

He decided to say something before the fur pressed to her face suffocated her. "So, Buneary..." he said.

She lowered her fur and peered at him over the top of it. "Yes?" she replied.

"What do you wanna do now?"

The Buneary paused a moment, glancing at the grass in thought. "Um..." She looked back up at him. "I dunno... What about you?"

"Hmm..." Pikachu glanced away, placing a finger on his chin as he racked his brain for something to do. "Well... I can't think of anything vey interesting... Hmm... we could just go for a walk, but-"

The Buneary dropped her fur back down, looking excited. "Okay! A walk sounds good. Let's go!" She hopped away in a random direction.

Pikachu felt slight panic at her sudden disappearance. _She __**knows**__ how dangerous it is around here and she just hops off on her __**own**__?_ "Hey, wait!" He got on all fours and ran after her.

Instead of stopping, the Buneary merely giggled and waved at him. "See if you can catch me, Pikachu!"

Pikachu stopped, standing on two legs again, and slumped his shoulders in exasperation; Arceus, she was so weird... He paused and smiled; though weird in a... cute way. He got back on all fours and chased after her.

He laughed. "Since when is a walk a game of tag?"

Mid-hop, the Buneary spun in a full circle, her arms spread out wide. "Since I felt like _playing_ tag! Wheeee!"

If Pikachu hadn't been running, he'd have shaken his head at the strange rabbit Pokemon, so, instead, he settled for smirking. He then jumped high into the air to try and tag her mid-hop, but he'd apparently timed it wrong, because he missed and fell back down on the grass as she continued to hop. He cursed his bad aiming.

The Buneary then turned sideways and landed very gracefully on the grass before spinning on her tiptoes like a dancer. Pikachu stood still on his four paws, watching her with fascination; wow... he'd never met another Pokemon who could dance like that before... She was really good. He was just wondering where she'd learned to dance like that when she stopped, turned to face him and, placing her paws under her chin, winked at him.

He was rather taken aback at this strange action. "Huh?"

The Buneary giggled happily before turning round and hopping away again. He stared after her for a few seconds, blinking in utter confusion. Why, on Earth...? He sighed; yep... she was _definitely_ the weirdest Pokemon that he'd ever met. He shook his head before chasing after her again.


	5. Weak

Author's note: Hi! Sorry that the updates are slow... but, you know... with me, they're _always_ slow. XD But, in my defence, it's quality over quantity. Mmm-hmm.

Anyway, the chapter title is a song by Jojo... and, although the song doesn't really fit this chapter very well (whereas the title _does_), the lyrics fit Buneary so perfectly, it's like the song was made for her. Lol.

**Chapter Five****: Weak**

Buneary was glowing with happiness as she and the Pikachu walked alongside each other back to the burrow in the early evening, her arms laden with Oran berries and the Pikachu's arms laden with Persim berries; it had been a truly amazing day. That morning, when the Pikachu had suggested the very simple idea of going for a walk, she'd felt ecstatic and had gone crazy with joy. It had been such a small thing, but the thought of going for a walk with her beloved knight in shining armour had sounded like the best thing in the world to her... and she'd been so overcome with happiness that all rational thought had flown out the burrow hole, causing her to randomly start off a game of tag. She blushed; it had even escalated to the point where she'd _flirted_ with him, which she hadn't known to be part of her character until the moment she'd done it. Arceus, what this Pikachu did to her she'd _never_ know; everything he said or did turned her into a besotted lunatic.

Once the Pikachu had caught her in their game of tag, they had decided, since it had been so much fun, to keep on playing, with _her_ being the one to chase _him_... and this had continued for a while, the two of them swapping over every time one tagged the other, until they had gotten bored and decided to play a different game. At lunchtime, they'd stopped for a small picnic of Pecha berries, which hadn't been particularly filling... so had felt more like a snack than an actual meal... but had been deliciously sweet and very satisfying.

All day, the sun had been shining and, all day, the two of them had played games, such as hide-and-seek and I-Spy... as well as having competitions, such as 'the best dance moves' and 'the best joke'. Sometimes, _she_ won and, sometimes, the Pikachu won, but that was never important to her; what _was_ important was that she'd thoroughly enjoyed herself. Oddly, though, no predator Pokemon had tried to attack them all day... and, although that was very strange, Buneary knew that it did happen on rare occasions... and she was very grateful that it had happened on _that_ day, because she'd gotten to spend a whole day having fun with the Pikachu. She knew that she'd remember this wonderful day forever.

"Oh, careful," the Pikachu said, snapping her out of her happy trance, "one of your Oran berries is trying to get away."

"Eep!" she yelped, hugging her pile of Oran berries closer to her chest to stop herself from dropping any. When they finally felt secure, she smiled gratefully at him. "Thanks, Pikachu!"

He smiled back. "No problem."

"You stupid rat!" an angry voice called out. "Stand still!"

Buneary froze at the sound of the voice, her heart beating faster in panic. She quickly looked in the direction it had come from. "That sounded like a Meowth!"

"I'm a mouse, you dolt..." another voice replied, "and you're stupider than you look if you think I'm just gonna stand still and let you attack me."

"And that sounded like a Rattata..." the Pikachu said quietly.

Fearful for her safety, Buneary scooted closer to him. "Maybe we should get out of here..." she said. "I don't wanna be anywhere _near_ that Meowth..." There was silence for a few moments, so, wondering why he wasn't saying anything, she looked up at him; he was staring into the distance with a slight frown on his face. "Pikachu?"

He shook his head. "Sorry, Buneary, but I need to go check it out." Her eyes widened in shock and fear. "That Rattata may need my help."

_Wow..._ Buneary thought, staring at him in wonder, _he's so amazingly brave... and noble..._ She blinked, suddenly focusing on the potential danger of the situation. _But I don't want him to get hurt!_ "B-But..."

"I refuse to abandon that Rattata, in case it needs my help. Let's go!" He jogged away from her, pressing the pile of Persim berries closer to his chest.

Buneary was torn; she wouldn't be able to help the Pikachu fight off this Meowth, so she'd only be in the way... Plus, _because_ she wouldn't be able to fight the cat Pokemon off, she was afraid for her safety... and she was also afraid for her beloved Pikachu's safety... even though he was perfectly capable of taking tare of _himself_... but... that Rattata may really be in trouble... and she didn't want his/her death on her conscience... Sighing in frustration and exasperation, she hopped after the Pikachu; _she'd_ had her life saved, so didn't the Rattata deserve that too?

* * *

Pikachu jogged towards the sound of the fight, frustrated that he couldn't move any faster, because of the pile of Persim berries he was carrying. Without them, he could have gotten on all fours and ran, but he really didn't want to drop his and the Buneary's dinner; he'd only have to gather it up again... and it had been difficult enough the first time. Besides, he was trying to be a gentleman, keeping his guest's dinner as clean as he possibly could. However, if the Rattata was in dire need of help, he would definitely need to drop it.

He glanced to the side of him to see the Buneary hopping alongside him, keeping a tight hold on her pile of Oran berries. He glanced away again; maybe it wasn't such a good idea bringing her along. She'd only be in danger from the Meowth... but... he didn't want to just leave her alone, in case something attacked her while he wasn't there to help... He nodded to himself; yes, this was for the best. At least, this way, he could protect her. He suddenly skidded to a halt as he caught sight of the fight, the Buneary landing to a stop next to him.

The Meowth and the Rattata that they had heard earlier were directly in front of them, facing one another on all four of their paws, the Meowth panting in exhaustion and the Rattata looking a mix between bored and annoyed... and their scents immediately told Pikachu that they were both male. However, he recognised the Rattata's scent; he was a friend of his that he spoke to on occasion. His eyes widened in shock at seeing him there and slight horror at the fact that he was fighting a predator Pokemon all by himself... although the Rattata _was_ pretty strong, so maybe he could handle this himself...

"Pikachu?" the Buneary asked quietly. "What's wrong?"

He blinked away the shock evident in his dark brown eyes. "I know this Rattata..." he replied, watching as Rattata and the Meowth both glanced in their direction before looking back at each other.

"You _do_?" The Buneary sounded shocked and surprised.

"You're way out of your league here, cat," the Rattata said in a monotone voice. "Just give up, already."

"Never!" the Meowth yelled, leaping up and landing on his hind legs. He then extended his claws and lunged at Rattata. "Fury Swipes!"

He swung his claws around in what appeared to be his best attempts to scratch Rattata, but the purple mouse easily weaved around the attack, looking increasingly bored and annoyed with every passing second. "I said 'give up'. I'm way too big a prey for you to handle. Plus... I'm way too fast... Quick Attack!" He dashed towards the Meowth at lightning speed and smacked into him, causing him to fly backwards and land a couple of feet away on his four paws. Rattata ran towards him. "And way too strong... Hyper Fang!" He leapt into the air and opened his mouth, showing his long sharp teeth for a mere second before chomping down on the Meowth's back. The Meowth screamed in agony.

Pikachu flinched at how painful that attack had looked; _he_ certainly didn't want to be on the receiving end of a Hyper Fang... especially not one aided by the teeth of a Rattata... and by the way the Buneary appeared to flinch at the same time, she didn't either.

Rattata jumped about a foot away and the Meowth collapsed on the grass, panting heavily. "I need... to beat you... I need... to show my mom... that I can... hunt on my own!"

"Pfft... yeah, that's all well and good, kitty cat... but what do you expect _me_ to do? Roll over and let you eat me?" The Meowth growled in frustration as he tried to climb to his feet. "Face it, you were in over your head trying to snag _me_ for dinner. I may be smaller than you, but not by much."

"I _will_... beat you!" The Meowth determinedly ran forward. "Faint Attack!" In an instant, he disappeared.

"Protect." A giant yellow barrier formed around Rattata as he calmly stood in place, waiting for the attack to strike. The Meowth suddenly materialised and smacked into the barrier, bouncing straight back off it and skidding backwards on his paws. When he finally stopped, the barrier disappeared. "In... over... your... head."

The Meowth ground his teeth together. "Why, you..."

Rattata narrowed his eyes very slightly and remained silent for a few moments. "Quick Attack!" He then dashed forward and rammed into the Meowth, who flipped over and landed painfully on his back. "Now, to get rid of you..." He jumped back about a foot. "Shadow Ball." He opened his mouth and a crackling ball of purple energy formed before it shot towards the Meowth. The instant it made contact, it caused an explosion and the Meowth went soaring over the horizon.

* * *

Buneary was impressed... _very_ impressed; the Rattata was the second mouse Pokemon she'd ever met that could easily defeat his opponents... and, besides that, he'd managed to defeat that Meowth without even breaking a sweat, while being merely a normal-type, like _her_... and normal-types, of course, weren't one of the stronger types in the world.

A thought suddenly struck her and she felt horribly sad and worthless; despite the fact that the two of them were the same type, he was so much stronger than her... He knew so many different powerful attacks, such as Hyper Fang and Shadow Ball... and she was still slightly scarred from watching him use Hyper Fang... yet she was still stuck with only knowing Dizzy Punch...

The Pikachu suddenly jogged forward, so she hopped alongside him. When he stopped beside the Rattata, she stopped next to him.

"Hey, Rattata," the Pikachu said cheerfully.

The Rattata turned towards him and yawned. "Hey, Pikachu," he replied, lifting his paw and scratching his ear with it.

"Nice job there. I've not seen you battle for a while."

"Mmm, thanks." The Rattata put his paw back down and stretched. "Mmm! I prefer not to battle at _all_, as you know."

The Pikachu chuckled. "Yeah, I know." He paused. "Oh! Yeah." He jerked his head in Buneary's direction. "This is my new friend, Buneary."

The Rattata looked at her. "Hey."

Buneary, feeling awkward at how uncaring the Rattata seemed to be about everything, gave a nod of her head. "Hey."

"So, how are things?" the Pikachu asked.

The Rattata looked back at the Pikachu. "Oh, same old, same old..."

"Wanna walk with us, so we can talk?"

The Rattata hesitated for a moment, then shook his head. "Nah, that's okay... I'm gonna get back to what I was doing. I was about to get myself some dinner before that stupid Meowth interrupted me."

Pikachu gave half a smile. "Okay then... I'll let you get on with that."

The Rattata turned around and ran off. "See ya, Pikachu!"

"See ya, Rattata!"

* * *

Pikachu smiled contentedly as he bit into another Persim berry, seated on his familiar nest of twigs and leaves in his cosy burrow, next to his new house guest, the Buneary; life was pretty good... especially when every new day promised delicious berries. He liked the fact that Oran berries and Persim berries had very balanced flavours, because each type of berry enabled him to taste four out of five flavours in one bite... and it was even better that what one of them lacked, the other made up for. In the case of the Oran berry, it lacked sweetness, yet contained bitterness... whereas the Persim berry lacked bitterness, yet contained sweetness; the two types of berries were the perfect combination. Of course, both berries contained spiciness, which he very much disliked, but it didn't bother him very much, because it was hidden amongst the other three flavours contained in each berry.

"Pikachu?" the Buneary asked rather quietly.

He turned towards her. "Yeah?" he replied.

She was staring awkwardly down at the half-eaten Oran berry in her paws. "Could you tell me something about Rattata?"

He smiled. "Sure!" She looked up at him, her ears drooping slightly, and he suddenly felt concerned. He dropped his smile and tilted his head at her. "Hey, are you okay?"

"Hmm?" She blushed, her ears springing back up again.

He straightened out his head and smiled again. "Why the long face? You don't need to feel awkward about asking me about my friends!" He paused and saw her give a shy smile. He chuckled. "Well... I'm pretty good friends with Rattata, but he's very much a loner. He likes to do things _his_ way, at his own pace." He paused, feeling slightly sad about the next piece of information he was going to provide. "See, he comes from a family of six... two Raticate parents and three older Rattata sisters... and his three sisters all _love_ attention... they always _have_ done. They've always stolen all the attention of their parents _away_ from him... so, these days, he just prefers to be on his own." The Buneary's ears drooped again, so he smiled to cheer her up. "That's how he likes it, though. He likes to spend his days doing nothing but lounging around in the sun and eating. You can usually find him sunbathing by the lake."

The Buneary suddenly perked up. "Wait... so was that _him_ I saw sunbathing there this morning? I know I saw a Rattata there."

Pikachu laughed. "Yep, that'll have been him. He's very lazy and just tends to lie there all day... until he's hungry, of course... then he moves around to get something to eat."

"He... he does go home eventually, right?"

"Oh, yeah, sure... at the end of the day. He's told me before that he's grown to hate being in that cramped burrow of his parents... constantly being pushed, shoved and overshadowed by his sisters... so he spends all day by the lake, by himself."

The Buneary's eyes widened. "Don't his family worry about him?"

Pikachu shrugged. "I'm sure they _do_... but they've learned that he likes his space."

"Oh... I see."

"Hey, it's not like he can't take care of _himself_, though, right? I mean, you saw how tough he is. If I'd known it was _him_ we'd heard talking to the Meowth earlier, I wouldn't have _bothered_ rushing to his aid."

The Buneary looked back down at her Oran berry, staring dully at it. "Yeah..."

Pikachu waited to see if she'd say anything else, but she fell silent after that, so he continued eating his Persim berry.

* * *

Buneary lay on her back, staring up at the ceiling of the burrow; she simply couldn't sleep at the moment. Beside her, the Pikachu slept soundly, his side gently rising and falling, but her mind was not at ease, like _his_ was; negative thoughts kept swirling around it, as though caught in a Twister attack.

She felt such a mixture of emotions now, thanks to that Rattata; she was amazed at his skill, astounded at his speed, in awe of his calm attitude... and yet, she also felt upset and inferior, because _she_ could _never_ be that good. She also felt a new emotion that had only just surfaced when the Pikachu had fallen asleep and she'd had time to think about it: anger... both at the Rattata for being better than her, as though he was rubbing it in her face with his emotionless expressions, and at herself for being weak.

Tears sprang to her dark brown eyes, but she fought them back, not wanting to burst into tears in her precious Pikachu's burrow. She sighed; the Pikachu... he'd _seen_ that something had been wrong with her earlier... and had gotten the wrong impression. Yes, she _had_ felt awkward about asking about the Rattata, but not because she'd thought it impolite to ask such things... it had been because the mere thought of the Rattata depressed her. She'd truly wanted to know more about him, and had had no problem asking about him... but images of his strength, speed and cool demeanour had invaded her thoughts, so she'd had trouble mentioning him to the Pikachu.

She fought the lump in her throat as she turned to look at the Pikachu, fast asleep next to her; why couldn't she be stronger? She wanted to be fighting _alongside_ the Pikachu, not cowering behind him... but... she was weak... the alpha Lopunny of her clan had never failed to tell her so... and she always _would_ be weak.

She paused a moment to think about her situation; if she hadn't been weak in the first place, she'd never have even _met_ the Pikachu, would she? Her clan would never have seen her as a failure... she'd never have had so much trouble against that mother Ninetales... she'd never have been within an inch of her life... and, therefore, he'd never have stepped in at the last second and saved her life! She smiled, the tears in her eyes slowly fading away; maybe it was a good thing after all that she'd been so weak.

She rolled over onto her side, facing away from the Pikachu and, instead, looking at the dirt wall; yes, she was content as she was. She may be weak, but she had the Pikachu to compensate for that... she realised that now. She never would have been able to have both and she knew that she'd have preferred the Pikachu over the strength to be a good battler any day.

Snuggling into a comfortable position in the nest, she closed her eyes and cherished the contended feeling that was washing over her; maybe, eventually, she'd get over being weak. It was always a sore spot with her, thinking about how other Pokemon around her were so much better than she was... and every time, she would hear the voice of the alpha Lopunny reminding her how pathetic she was... but maybe the Pikachu, being as amazing as he was, could help her enjoy life as it was, _without_ worrying about how strong she _should_ be. After all, in the very short time that he'd known her, he'd saved her life twice and never once complained about how he'd had to fight her battles for her... or how she was dragging him down. Maybe he could be the one Pokemon in her life who would like her for who she was, rather than how well she could fight.

Suddenly wanting to be a bit closer to him, she scooted backwards until she felt the fluffy fur around her waist brush up against him. She blushed happily, glad that she was living with him... and sleeping next to him... and generally spending time with someone whom she could trust beyond everything.

* * *

Pikachu opened his eyes and was greeted by a bright ray of sunshine. Shielding his eyes, he sat up and stretched, pleasantly happy that he'd woken up by himself today... and not because the Buneary had screamed for Arceus knows what reason.

He glanced sideways to see her still fast asleep, angled very slightly in his direction with a section of her face visible. He smiled as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes; she looked quite cute while she slept... Well, she was cute anyway, because Buneary were naturally cute Pokemon... but this particular Buneary was normally very weird and overly enthusiastic in her behaviour... so it was nice to see her looking peaceful for once. He paused for a moment; although, he didn't remember her being so close to him when he went to sleep... He was fairly sure that she'd been a bit further away last night... He shrugged it off; it was hardly important... and he was probably imagining it anyway.

He glanced outside at the bright morning sun; well, he was ready to head to the lake for his morning drink and wash... but... He looked back at the Buneary; she still wasn't awake. He sighed; he really didn't want to wake her, but he really wanted to head to the lake now... and he certainly wasn't about to leave her alone in here, especially when she was fast asleep and vulnerable. She probably wouldn't be able to defend herself. It stung for him to think such horrid thoughts about her, but he knew that it was true. Twisting his body round slightly, he gently reached a finger over to her and poked her.

"Buneary?" he asked quietly.

"Nruh?" she replied in a tired voice, shifting slightly in the nest.

"It's Pikachu." She turned towards him and cracked her eyes open before slamming them shut again. He chuckled; bright light was horrible in the morning. "Sorry to wake you, but I wanna head to the lake. Is that alright?"

"Nyuh..." The Buneary sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes, and yawned. "Morning, Pikachu."

Pikachu smiled. "Morning."

The Buneary shook her head in an obvious attempt to wake herself up, even slapping the sides of her face with her paws. "Okay... I'm up."

Pikachu chuckled at how amusing she'd just looked. "Great... shall we head to the lake then?"

The Buneary nodded sleepily. "Lead the way."


	6. Be A Fish

Author's notes: Hi! I'm back to dish out some more Pikachu/Buneary love... and happy days! I have done all of my college exams! Pray that I do well enough to get into university. Heh.

Anyway, moving on, this chapter was a bit longer than I intended it to be, but never mind. Lol. I don't want to cut any of it off. It flows nicely at the current moment.

Last of all, the chapter title is a song by Bardo Pond.

**Chapter Six****: Be A Fish**

Buneary huddled closer to the tree that she was hiding behind, almost holding her breath in her attempt to keep as quiet as possible. If she made a single sound, the Pokemon that was tracking her would undoubtedly find her. Fine-tuning her ears, she searched for the creature, listening for his footsteps amongst the forest's background noise, and froze the moment she heard them. Heart thumping in her chest, she pressed her small body against the bark of the tree and waited.

Peeking out from the behind the tree a mere fraction, she saw a flash of yellow and, as quietly as she possibly could, slunk back behind the tree. She smiled, feeling her heart pound in excitement and anxiety; she and the Pikachu were playing hide-and-seek... and she was really enjoying the thrill of hiding from him.

Of course, there were a few important rules for this game. One, if Buneary came across any danger, the game was to stop immediately and she was to run straight to the Pikachu's side. Two, whoever was 'it' had to hold their breath to prevent them from picking up the other's scent with their noses. Whenever they felt the need to breathe, they would use their mouth, then hold their breath again.

After a short while, Buneary frowned in confusion. _Where the heck did the Pikachu go?_ she wondered. She was considering peeking round the tree again to have another look, when a finger poked her in the back. She jumped and squealed in shock.

"Found you!" a voice, which was unmistakably the Pikachu's, said.

She spun round and came face-to-face with the electric mouse. She laughed in relief. "Yep, you did," she replied.

The Pikachu looked into the sky, shielding his eyes with his arm. "You know, I'm kinda bored of this game. What do you wanna do _now_?"

"Hmm..." Buneary copied his composure and stared into the sunny late afternoon sky. It was at that moment that she realised how dry her throat was. "I dunno. I _am_ kinda thirsty, though."

"Okay... then let's head back over to the lake."

* * *

Pikachu had been standing guard while the Buneary had a drink from the lake, but his stomach had told him rather grumpily that it wanted a snack, so here he was, plucking a Nanab berry from a nearby bush. He looked around him, keeping his eyes, ears and senses open for any sign of a threat, but, once he detected that there was no danger, he looked back at his Nanab berry.

He smirked slightly, vaguely amused by how the berry looked rather like a bunch of tiny pink bananas, before he bit into it. As he chewed away, continuing to watch his surroundings, a bitter yet sweet taste ran over his tongue.

He and the Buneary had come to a different part of the lake today, simply to avoid Aipom. He normally avoided the crazy purple monkey anyway, since she seemed to get a kick out of throwing rock-hard berries at his head, but he now had to worry about what would happen if Aipom and the Buneary met up again. After all, yesterday hadn't gone so well.

Suddenly, his ears perked up at the sound of something very small running in their direction at lightning speed. However, as soon as he recognised it as being very familiar and of no threat to either of them, he continued eating. He listened as it sped past them, but was startled when he heard a thump, a yelp from the Buneary and a splash. He whirled around and dropped his partially-eaten Nanab berry in horror; the Buneary was floating upside-down on the top of the lake, suspended there by the fluffy fur around her waist, and her small cream-coloured feet were kicking around frantically.

"Buneary!" he screamed. _Oh, my Arceus, she could drown!_ he thought in a frenzied panic.

Without thinking, he ran over to the lake, dove into the water and swam towards her. As soon as he reached her, he grabbed her fluffy fur and pulled on it with all his might. Unfortunately, the part that was underwater had gotten rather heavy from being wet, so he was struggling to pull her upright... and the water was starting to seep further and further upwards, which was dragging the Buneary further and further underwater. He pulled, grabbed some more fur and pulled again, working his muscles as hard as he could, until her head was finally above water. He breathed a sigh of relief and let go.

She spat out a mouthful of water, wrapped her arms around herself and shuddered. "Oh, my Arceus!" she cried out. "I could've drowned! Thank you, Pikachu." She looked like she was about to cry.

"Hey, it's okay. Don't worry. You're safe now."

"Just what the heck knocked me in the water? It was something small and really fast." Pikachu winced, since he knew who it had been, though she didn't appear to notice this. She sniffled. "Stupid fluff. I wish it didn't float when it's dry and sink when it's wet..."

"Listen, don't worry about it." He reached over and patted her shoulder with his paw. "It's part of who you are... and besides, it looks-" A nearby splash instantly distracted him, preventing him from telling her that her fluff looked cute on her.

"Hey there!" a Feebas said after surfacing right next to them. The Buneary screeched and shielded her face. "Oh, come on... I'm not _that_ ugly, _surely_?"

The Buneary slowly lowered her paws and turned her face away. "S-Sorry."

"Eh, no hard feelings." It chuckled. "I know I just startled you is all."

It bothered Pikachu a fraction that he couldn't tell the Feebas' emotions by its blank face. However, something that was bothering him even more than this was the fact that it was rather hard to tell its gender. His usual method of using scent to determine the matter simply wasn't working, so he guessed that it had something to do the water masking the scent.

A Magikarp suddenly emerged next to the Feebas. "Hey, _sis_..." it said in a whiney tone, "why'd you swim off?"

The Feebas turned to the Magikarp. "'Cause I sensed land-dwellers, duh." She then turned back to Pikachu and the Buneary. "This is my brother, Magikarp. He's a pain in the tail fin. Very clingy."

"Hey! I am not clingy..."

"Right... and Charmander like to dip their tails in cold water..."

* * *

Buneary was feeling rather unnerved by the female Feebas and male Magikarp that were now in her presence, since neither of them had the slightest hint of emotion on their faces and neither seemed to be able to blink. It was creeping her out somewhat.

"So," the Feebas said, "what are you land-dwellers doing in the water, anyway?"

The Pikachu chuckled beside her. "Oh, that was completely by accident. My friend, Buneary, got knocked into the water and I dove in after her."

"Huh... is that so?" She paused. "Well, then, how about we take you for a swim? I'm willing to bet you've never seen the wonders of the underwater world before, right?"

Buneary suddenly perked up. "An underwater swim?" she asked enthusiastically. "Sure! I saw a little bit of it when I was upside-down earlier and it looked amazing!" She suddenly felt sheepish and she lowered her voice to a murmur. "I'd have appreciated it a lot more if I wasn't _drowning_ at the time, but, you know..."

"Well, if _she's_ game, then count me in too!" the Pikachu said.

"Great!" the Feebas replied. "I've always wanted to take a land-dweller underwater!" She turned around. "One of you, grab _my_ dorsal fin and the other, grab _Magikarp's_."

The Pikachu swam towards the Magikarp and grabbed his fin with both paws, so Buneary did the same with the Feebas'.

"Sis, we really shouldn't be doing this," the Magikarp warned. "We'll get in big trouble if Dad finds out."

"Oh, stop worrying! Dad _won't_ find out, okay?" The Magikarp sighed in response. "Alright, hold your breath, land-dwellers!" Buneary and the Pikachu did as they were told. "As soon as you need air, tap us on the side, okay?" They both nodded. "Right, let's go!"

The two fish Pokemon dove underwater at the same time. The Feebas struggled for a moment in dragging Buneary underwater, thanks to the rabbit's fluffy fur, but, once she did, they were off.

Buneary was amazed by what she saw; it was like a whole other world under the water. As she looked around, she could see so many different water Pokemon swimming around, all of different shapes, sizes and colours. Looking down below, she could vaguely see glimmers of green, which were most likely algae and various other plants for the water-dwellers to feed on. Looking upwards, she saw the late afternoon sun glimmering through the water and casting beautiful sunbeams on her surroundings. The view was truly breathtaking. She glanced over at the Pikachu to see what his opinion was and, once he caught her eye, he smiled and gave her a one-pawed thumbs-up. She smiled back, feeling herself glow on the inside.

"Uh oh," the Magikarp said, catching Buneary's attention. "Heads up, sis... it's the jet Pokemon clan."

"I see 'em. Change course."

The two fish Pokemon instantly swerved in another direction and Buneary glanced over to see two Octillery herding a school of Remoraid towards a patch of algae not too far away. She understood immediately that the Feebas and the Magikarp had needed to change course to avoid their natural predators, but she was a little disappointed that she hadn't been able to see the clan up close.

_It's kinda weird that Octillery give birth to their natural prey,_ she thought. _What a twisted world we live in._

It was at that moment that they swam past a clan of Staryu and Starmie, a couple of which were practicing Rapid Spin. Buneary watched as one of the Staryu accidentally smacked into one of the Starmie and got a Swift to the 'face' as punishment. Trying not to laugh – since she didn't want to inhale any water – she cast her gaze upwards again and saw a clan of Azumarill, Marill and Azurill swimming on top of the water, their buoy-like tails keeping them afloat. The Azumarill and Marill appeared to be keeping watch over the Azurill as they paddled around with their tiny legs, happy and completely carefree about the world around them. Buneary, finding this very adorable, looked elsewhere and spotted a clan of Crawdaunt and Corphish. Two of the Crawdaunt seemed to be having a fight, both using Crabhammer to beat each other up while the rest of the clan tried to intervene. She couldn't tear her eyes away from this for a few moments, until the voice of the Feebas distracted her.

"You know... I can't wait until I'm a Milotic." The Feebas' tone sounded really excited. "I think I'm almost there too. Just take a look at how shiny my scales are." Buneary looked down at the Feebas' scales and suddenly noticed that she was right; her greenish brown scales were almost glimmering under the water. "I exercise a lot and always eat healthily, so, sooner or later, I'm bound to hit maximum beauty." She paused for a moment. "Milotic are so beautiful, aren't they? And so elegant. I wanna get out of this ugly Feebas body and into the body of a Milotic." She paused again and chuckled. "Magikarp wants to be a Gyarados, but he's not having much luck, are you, Magikarp?"

"Sis..." Magikarp groaned, turning his head away.

"The only moves he knows are Splash and Tackle... and not even a very _good_ Tackle at that. Plus, it doesn't help that he never trains much. I, on the other hand, also know Water Pulse, Ice Beam and Swift. "

"Cut it out, sis..." His tone of voice sounded jealous to Buneary's ears.

The Feebas cackled. "Well, it's _true_. I mean, our Magikarp _sister_ is closer to being a Gyarados than _you_ are. She trains her _tail_ off in hopes of one day evolving." Buneary suddenly felt herself run out of air, so she quickly rapped her fingerless paw on Feebas' side. "Huh? Oh, you need air. Coming right up!" She swam upwards and the Magikarp followed her.

As soon as they broke the surface of the water, Buneary released her built-up carbon dioxide and breathed in the wonderful oxygen. Wow, that felt good after holding her breath for so long.

Once she'd fully recovered, she smiled. "It's amazing down there," she said in awe.

"Yeah, it is," the Pikachu agreed, catching her eye and smiling at her. "Wanna go for another swim, Buneary?"

Her face suddenly lit up; she loved the thought of doing that all over again. "Sure! I could do this all day!"

He nodded. "Yeah, I could too." He reached a paw over and patted the side of the Magikarp twice. "Fancy giving us another tour?"

The Magikarp glanced towards the Feebas, who nodded. "Yeah, why not?" he replied.

Buneary felt ecstatic at being able to see the underwater world again. "Alright! Then let's go!"

* * *

Pikachu was in a great mood as the Magikarp and the Feebas once again broke the surface of the lake to allow him and the Buneary to breathe. They had been given tour after tour after tour for hours now and he was still having the time of his life. Glancing up at the sky, he noticed the low position of the sun and suspected that it was nearing dinner time... but he was just so addicted to diving under the water and watching the daily habits of marine Pokemon that this fact barely registered in his mind. He'd never been so far underwater for such a large amount of time before, so he'd never experienced the whole other world that seemed to be concealed beneath the surface and was perfectly normal living space for water-types.

The Magikarp and the Feebas had dived underwater so many times now that they didn't even need to ask whether or not the two land Pokemon wanted another tour. He and the Buneary took a deep breath in synchronisation and they were, once again, pulled underwater.

As they swam along, he noticed a clan of Seaking and Goldeen heading in their direction. He turned his head, keeping a tight clasp on the Magikarp's yellow dorsal fin, and followed the nearest Goldeen's movements. It noticed him and turned to face him, giving him a blank half-lidded stare, before turning away again and swimming straight past, alongside its clan. Pikachu was slightly annoyed at the Goldeen's haughty attitude, but shrugged it off as he glanced elsewhere. He then spotted a small clan of Qwilfish, the members of which seemed to be competing with one another to see who could blow themselves up to the biggest size. He watched in amusement as they took turns to suck in as much water as possible and balloon outwards like the puffer fish they were. Glancing upwards, he saw a couple of Corsola having a race near the surface of the water, one playfully trying to shove the other out of the way and gain the lead. Trying not to laugh at the Corsola's childishness, he turned away just in time to watch a large clan of Kingdra, Seadra and Horsea swim straight over the Buneary's head. She was craning her neck upwards to watch them and Pikachu noticed one particular Horsea take great fascination in her. It broke away from its clan and swam in circles around her, observing her from every angle.

"Hi!" it said enthusiastically. The Buneary simply looked at it. "You look like a land-dweller!" The Buneary nodded. "So, what'cha doin' underwater?" The Buneary kept her mouth firmly shut, so the Horsea tilted its head playfully. "Aw, come on! Talk to me!" It giggled and Pikachu was sure that it knew perfectly well that the Buneary couldn't open her mouth. He lowered his eyelids in slight annoyance at it. "You know you wanna! You know you wanna! Just open that furry mouth of yours and-"

"Oy!" an angry voice said before a frowning Seadra swam over to the Horsea, who had turned round at the sound of the voice. "Just what do you think you're doing, shrimp?" It swam behind the Horsea and used its head to shove it in the direction of their clan. "Don't just go swimming off like that! Mom nearly had a panic attack when she saw you'd disappeared! Now, come on." It shoved the Horsea further and further away. "Let's go."

"Aww... you never let me have _any_ fun..."

Pikachu watched a short while longer until the two seahorses had completely disappeared from view, then pulled a baffled expression, feeling rather tempted to scratch his head at the bizarre sight.

"You know, sis..." the Magikarp said cautiously, "we should really stop it with the tours now. It's getting near dinner time, so Dad will be coming to find us soon."

The Feebas sighed. "Yeah, I guess so," she replied. "It's been so much fun, though. I've never given a land-dweller a tour befo-"

It was then that Pikachu felt it... the thing that had made the Feebas stop mid-word and caused all four of them to freeze in horror: huge ripples in the water that were swaying to and fro in a vicious movement... and getting stronger every second. Something huge was swimming towards them... and it was furiously angry.

The Magikarp suddenly paled. "Uh oh..."

Pikachu, feeling an impending sense of doom, stared into the distance, only to see a large shape materialise into view and head straight for them. His eyes widened in horror and his blood ran cold as he saw what it was: a Gyarados.

"_Get away from my children_!" it roared.

The Buneary freaked out so much in her terror that she let go of the Feebas' blue dorsal fin and flailed around helplessly in the water.

"Dad, wait, I-!" the Feebas called out, but the Magikarp was also terrified. He dashed away from Pikachu, causing him to lose his grip on his dorsal fin, and smacked into his sister. The two went spiralling away.

The Gyarados, meanwhile, was powering up an enraged Hyper Beam. Hysterical with fear for both his safety and the Buneary's, Pikachu didn't know what to do. He was panicking so much that his brain couldn't function properly. The Gyarados fired the Hyper Beam straight at them and, with nowhere to go underwater, it made contact in a direct hit and exploded on impact. The pain was so intense that he opened his mouth and inhaled a gulp of water. Closing it tight again and swallowing the water, he looked to the side of him to see the Buneary half-conscious and slowly drifting towards the surface. Suddenly burning with fury at what the Gyarados had done to her, he wanted nothing more at that moment than to shock him into oblivion with a strong Thunderbolt. The water, combined with the Gyarados being quadruple weak to him, would knock him out instantly... but, if he did that, he'd only be shocking the Buneary too... and he really didn't want to cause her any pain, no matter how necessary it was. This made his clench his teeth behind his closed mouth in frustration.

"_You filthy land-dwellers_!" The Gyarados swung his long tail round and batted him across the lake. He spun backwards several times before stopping. "_I'll kill you for daring to come near my children_! _I'll kill you_!" He powered up a Dragon Pulse and aimed it directly at the Buneary's head. Pikachu's heart pounded in terror, now fearing for her life. There was no way that he could swim over to her in time. "_Die_!"

Faster than Pikachu could blink, a Milotic suddenly swam in front of the Gyarados, staring into his face with its expressionless red eyes. "Calm yourself, darling," it said.

The Gyarados halted, dissolving his Dragon Pulse as he looked at the Milotic, and his voice softened. "Sweetheart..." It hardened again. "These land-dwellers were trying to harm-!"

"Come now, darling... a mouse and a rabbit would hardly be a threat to our family. What have I told you about attacking before even knowing what's going on?" It tilted its head at the Gyarados, but was met with silence. "It appears to _me_ that our children were merely showing the land-dwellers around. Is that right, children?"

"Yeah, that's right, Mom," the Feebas replied as she and the Magikarp swam over.

"I warned you that this might happen..." the Magikarp mumbled, "but did you listen? Of course you didn't..."

As several other Feebas and Magikarp swam over to join the two fish Pokemon, Pikachu realised that he needed air. He glanced over at the Buneary, who seemed to be heading towards the surface. Feeling satsfied that she was okay, he did the same.

When he finally reached fresh air and gasped it down, he swam over to her. "Are you okay, Buneary?" he asked.

"Yeah..." she replied, wincing, "just a little bruised."

"Come on, let's get back on dry land."

* * *

Buneary was happy to be away from the scary Gyarados and his family as she sat in the Pikachu's nest, munching on an Oran berry. She'd been sure that the Dragon Pulse was going to kill her, but she'd been very fortunate with the appearance of the Milotic. She did feel slightly bad for fleeing the scene, not even stopping to thank the Milotic or say goodbye to the Magikarp and the Feebas, but she'd felt so badly shaken after the Gyarados' Hyper Beam that all she'd wanted was to get as far away from the lake as possible... and, judging by the Pikachu's equally hasty retreat, he'd wanted the same.

She glanced up at him and noticed that he was absently staring out towards the lake, obviously also thinking about their brush with death, made even worse than usual by the fact that they'd been unable to breathe at the time.

She shuddered. _Never again do I want to go swimming underwater..._ she thought.


	7. In Times Gone Past

Author's note: Hello again. Here's another glorious update at last.

Firstly, university is great. :) I really like where I am (for the most part), though work here can get tedious at times. Lol.

Secondly, I must mention a couple of things about the lake in this fic. Imagine that it's _huge_, not the dinky little thing you see in the episode 'The Psyduck Stops Here'... and, concerning the Pokemon that live in it, I actually only put those particular ones there because I wanted them there. Hehe. _However_, if you watch the episode 'Up Close and Personable', you'll notice that Horsea and Goldeen are clearly both living in a lake together, along with a freaking Sealeo and Dewgong, which you'd think would live in the Arctic or Antarctic. How awesome is that? It backs up my story.

Thirdly, the chapter title is a song by Zao... and the lyrics sorta fit, with the right slant made on them. Heh. I couldn't find anything better. It's getting more difficult the further into the fic I go. Lol.

**Chapter Seven****: In Times Gone Past**

Pikachu yawned and stretched in his nest, relishing in the feeling of stretching his tired muscles after another good night's sleep. He then sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

"Morning, Pikachu!" the Buneary's voice called out cheerfully.

He blinked in surprise before looking over at the entrance of his burrow, where said rabbit Pokemon was standing. "Morning..." he replied. He then gave a small smile. "Wow, you're up early."

She giggled. "Yep! I had a better night's sleep last night!" She hopped up and down. "I'm _raring_ to _go_!"

He couldn't help but chuckle; she really amused him sometimes. "Alright, then let's head to the..." He trailed off, his thoughts suddenly kicking in and reminding him horribly of the previous day.

The smile fell off the Buneary's face and she stopped hopping. Her ears drooped. "Oh... right..." She wrapped her arms around herself and glanced warily in the direction of the lake.

Pikachu sighed, letting his ears also droop. "I guess we can't avoid the thing for long, huh? I mean, we can't wash up and drink without water... and the lake's the closest water source this side of the forest. The river's on the _other_ side..."

The Buneary was silent for a while as she continued to stare off into the distance. Then she finally turned to him and sighed herself. "Yeah, you're right..." She paused, suddenly looking fearful. "But... what if we run into that... that... Gyarados again?"

Pikachu thought back to the previous day, remembering very acutely how the atrocious Pokemon had almost killed the Buneary by following up a Hyper Beam with a Dragon Pulse. He suddenly felt his blood boil over again, anger seething through every vein in his body. He contorted his eyes and gritted his teeth.

"If we do, I'll be sure to kill him."

The Buneary's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. "P... Pikachu!"

He blinked, realising how vicious and vengeful he'd just sounded, and grinned sheepishly. "Oh, sorry. Got a bit carried away there."

The Buneary stared at him for a moment, then smiled softly. "He was only protecting his children, anyway. We can't hate him for _that_..." She paused again, her smile dropping slightly. "Even if he _did_ nearly kill me..."

Pikachu gave it a moment's thought before frowning. "Yeah, okay, he was protecting his kids... but he still went _way_ too far." He paused, then lowered his voice to a mutter and averted his eyes. "Then again, what do you expect from a _Gyarados_?"

The Buneary gave a light giggle, which immediately raised his spirits. He smiled as he looked back at her, his ears lifting again once he saw that hers had lifted. Yeah, _that_ was the Buneary that he wanted to see, not the upset and depressed one.

The rabbit Pokemon fiddled with the fluff around her waist for a moment, then gazed shyly up at him. "So, um... do you wanna... try for the lake?" She flinched, but kept her gaze on his.

He stood up and walked over to her, smiling wider to provide some encouragement. "Yeah. Only if you're okay with it, though." He paused. "I mean, I'd understand if you _weren't_, after _yesterday_..."

She continued to stare at him before shaking her head and sporting a determined smile on her face. "No, I have to do this! I can't avoid the lake forever, right? I have to face my fears and conquer them!" She paused, suddenly looking sheepish. "Besides, I'm thirsty..."

Pikachu stared incredulously at her for a moment, then burst out laughing; Arceus, she was amusing. "Well... let's go then!"

* * *

Buneary felt very nervous as she and the Pikachu approached the edge of the lake; just looking at the shimmery surface was forcing every painful memory of the previous day back to the front of her mind.

_So much pain..._ she thought, wincing. Her reflection winced back at her. _Unbelievable pain..._ A Corsola swam past happily, a huge grin on its face. _And water... all around me... in my mouth, in my nose... clogging up my lungs..._ She shivered and watched her reflection mimic her. _I couldn't move, I couldn't breathe... I thought I was going to drown..._

If she was honest, it had been nothing short of a miracle that she'd recovered enough from that Hyper Beam to swim to the surface. Every muscle in her body had been screaming in agony... yet also begging her to just relax and allow the dead weight of her small frame to sink to the bottom of the lake... down to oblivion... She shuddered.

"So, uh..." the Pikachu said. She glanced to the side at his reflection and noticed that he also looked anxious. "Do _you_ wanna go first, or...?"

She looked back down at the lake's surface, picturing the Gyarados' face rising up from the depths and swallowing her whole in his huge fanged mouth. "Um..." she replied, honestly not sure of the answer.

It was at that moment that, with a great splash, a Milotic popped its head above the water in front of them. Buneary jumped backwards in shock, her heart pounding through her ribcage, and dully noted that the Pikachu had also jumped backwards.

"_What the_-?" He paused. "Milotic?" He paused again. "Are you the... same Milotic from yesterday?"

The Milotic nodded. "Yes, I am," she replied. "I wanted to apologise for my mate's behaviour yesterday. Being a Gyarados, he's very prone to rage."

Buneary felt rather exasperated by that comment. _Gee, you think?_ she silently asked.

Two Magikarp and two Feebas suddenly popped up in a group on one side of the Milotic, each face as expressionless as the other.

"Yeah, sorry..." one of the Feebas added, "Dad's kind of aggressive..."

The other Feebas sniggered. "Dude!" it said. "You knew this and you _still_ took them off on a tour? You numb-nuts!"

One of the Magikarp nudged it with its head. "Hey!" it said. It then looked back at Buneary and the Pikachu. "Don't mind him. When I become a Gyarados, I'll kick his tail fin for ya."

The Feebas faced the Magikarp. "Not if I evolve and kick yours _first_!"

The Magikarp turned in the water to meet its gaze. "Heh! A pretty boy Milotic kicking the tail fin of a super-awesome Gyarados? I think not!"

"A _female_ Gyarados, might I remind you. Females can't _kick_ the tail fins of males."

"Oh, you did _not_ just go there!"

"You bet I _did_, sister!"

"You wanna go right now?"

"Against _you_? Ha! Your best move is Flail!"

The other Magikarp groaned without looking at its bickering siblings. "Quit it, you two..." it whined.

Buneary had been a bit confused about who was who, but she was sure that she had it now; the Feebas who had apologised about its father and the Magikarp who had groaned about its siblings were the two that had given her and the Pikachu the tour. As for the other two, she'd never met them before, but she could vaguely recall the female Feebas mentioning a Magikarp sister who was working hard to become a Gyarados.

"Children, please," the Milotic said calmly. As if she'd shouted, the bickering pair quieted instantly. "Anyway, I do hope you'll forgive my mate. I understand that Gyarados are irrational creatures, but he really does have a kind heart underneath." She paused for thought. "When I first met him, though, his temper was much more out of control than most Gyarados. According to what he has told me, he was never happy with the way his clan operated. There was far too much forcing by the alpha Gyarados when it came to mates. He was paired off with his red Gyarados cousin, because the alpha Gyarados had assumed _him_ to be the best chance of breeding a golden Magikarp with her."

"Whoa..." the Pikachu said from beside Buneary, who was as captivated as he sounded, "really?"

The Milotic nodded. "Oh, yes. He was not happy with it, though. He did not like how he was being given no choice in the matter and rebelled against the alpha Gyarados." She paused. "I was swimming along nearby when I caught sight of their battle. Hyper Beams and Dragon Pulses lit the area around them as they clashed, each attempting to seriously injure the other." She closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them again. "The alpha Gyarados was clearly the stronger opponent, but _my_ Gyarados was the angrier of the two... and anger is a key element in power for _any_ Pokemon, let alone a Gyarados."

Buneary was wide-eyed in awe by this point. "So... what happened next?" she asked.

"Well, I could not allow the fight to continue. The alpha Gyarados was very durable, but the constant barrage of attacks from _my_ Gyarados ensured that he would not last much longer... so I entered the battlefield and stared into his eyes to calm him down."

"Right..." Pikachu said, a tone of understanding in his voice, "'cause Milotic have the power to calm down even the most _ferocious_ of hearts."

The Milotic nodded again. "That is correct. My power allows me to drain a being of its negative emotions." She paused. "And it has always been said in my clan that I possess the calmest mind of all Milotic." Her tone of voice suddenly became playful, though it didn't show on her face. "Though how true that is, I do not know."

"Wow..." Buneary said, "so... the most bad-tempered of all Gyarados ended up with the calmest of all Milotic?"

"Yes. Funny how the world works, hmm?" She tilted her head to look at the four fish Pokemon at her side. "Come, children. Let us return to the depths... and leave our land-dwelling friends in peace."

"Kay!" all four of her children replied.

"Bye, Pikachu and Buneary," the male Magikarp said.

"See ya around!" the female Feebas added.

All five of them suddenly descended back into the lake with a large splash. It took a few moments for the ripples to die down, but, once they did, the surface of the water where they had just been was as glassy as it had been before.

* * *

Pikachu was silent for a short while, then laughed lightly at the strange event. "Well..." he said, turning to the Buneary, "that was interesting, huh?"

The Buneary returned his gaze, giggling lightly. "Yeah," she replied. "We learned some fascinating stuff about that Gyarados and Milotic."

"Yeah."

There was another pause between them, this one somewhat awkward. "Um... I think I'll wash and drink now... if that's okay?"

Pikachu smiled. "Sure. Go ahead." He walked a short distance away, both to give her some privacy and to assume his duty. "I'll stand watch."

"Kay."

He glanced around the area, fine-tuning all of his available senses to seek out any threats. He twitched his ears, picking up the usual sounds of a morning in Eterna Forest... including the splashing of water, the singing of Pidgey, Spearow and Starly – none of which were a threat to him – the rustling of various trees and bushes and small footfalls in every direction... but nothing out of place. He could usually tell if something was out of place, such as heavy footfalls or the flapping of large wings. He then inhaled deeply, many a scent of the spring morning wafting through his nostrils, but nothing that felt dark and foreboding to his senses. All looked peaceful at the current moment.

"Ahhh..." the Buneary said. He glanced back to see her shaking herself dry. She then turned to him and beamed. "Your turn."

He smiled and nodded. "Thanks."

Swapping places with her, he stared down at his reflection before smiling and winking at it. He chuckled; he enjoyed being a Pikachu. True, his species did look rather feminine by nature, but he still thought that he was pretty handsome. His fur was the colour of a bright summer's day and his cheeks were as red as blood. He was contrived of very striking colours and he rather liked that. He also liked his long pointed ears... although his favourite feature by far was his lightning bolt tail; it was definitely his most striking feature.

Leaning down the embankment, he lapped up the cool clean water, relishing how fresh and delicious it tasted on his tongue before it slid down his throat. Once he'd drank to his satisfaction, he scooped up some of the water in his paws and threw it over himself, rubbing away all of the dirt. He continued to do this a few more times until he was happy that he was clean enough. Shaking himself dry, he groaned in appreciation; ah, the feeling of being clean first thing in a morning. There was nothing like it.

He walked over to the Buneary, who turned around and smiled at him. "Done?"

He nodded again. "Yup."

The Buneary beamed. "Great! So, um..." She ducked her head and fiddled with her fur, just like she'd done back in the burrow earlier. "Breakfast?"

Pikachu's stomach grumbled at the thought. He laughed in embarrassment and threw an arm behind his head. "Yeah... sounds good! Come on."

* * *

Buneary sat with the Pikachu on the edge of the lake, feeling in another pleasant mood as she bit into a Kelpsy berry. This berry was different from what the two of them had mostly been eating lately, but she felt that it was a nice change. The Pikachu had found a bush where a bunch of them were growing and had asked her if she fancied something different. She'd cheerfully said 'yes'.

She chewed on the berry, cringing slightly as the mixture of dryness, bitterness and sourness washed over her tongue, but she was soon enjoying it enough to take another bite.

"Say, uh... Buneary?" the Pikachu asked.

She looked up at him and smiled. "Yeah, Pikachu?" she replied.

He fumbled with the Kelpsy berry in his paws for a few moments, seeming somewhat awkward. "Well... I was just wondering something..."

She felt a faint trace of fear sweep over her; whatever he was going to say was pretty serious. She could tell by how awkward he seemed to be feeling. "What is it?"

"Well... it's something that's been on my mind quite a bit recently." He paused. "Well, okay, not much, 'cause of all that's happened... but it's crept in from time to time."

The feeling of fear intensified. "And what's that?"

"Um... won't your clan be missing you?"

Her heart felt like it had stopped dead in her chest. _Oh no..._ she thought, _oh, Arceus, no... not this..._

"I'm not saying I don't like having you with me... of _course_ I do... It's just that... well... you've been living with me for a few days now and not gone to see your clan."

_Why did he have to ask this? Why?_ Buneary felt her throat tighten painfully.

Pikachu glanced in the other direction. "I mean, if you _wanna_ stay with me, you're free to... I just wondered why you don't wanna see your family. Your... parents... your siblings..." His voice wavered slightly, but she barely noticed. "All your aunts and uncles... and your cousins..."

_Stop it... just stop it... Please, stop it!_ Tears welled up in her eyes. _Stop talking about my clan like they... like I..._

He looked back at her. "If it's none of my business, though, then..." His mouth froze in mid-sentence and his eyes widened. "Buneary?"

_No more... no more... No more talk of my clan!_ A small sob escaped her throat. _Please..._

"Oh, my Arceus!" He threw his Kelpsy berry to one side and scooted closer to her, shoving the pile of berries to one side and looking really worried. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

_My clan... the alpha Lopunny... my life back home..._ Her tears finally leaked down her face. _No! Don't..._

He gently patted her shoulder. "I'm so sorry. Was I prying too much? Was that way too personal?"

Buneary dropped her own Kelpsy berry onto her lap and furiously rubbed away her tears, feeling very weak and foolish now. She nodded. "S-Sorry..."

Pikachu shook his head, his ears drooping. "No, _I'm_ the one who should be sorry..." He paused. "So... there's a _reason_ why you're not going back? You don't have to tell me what it is, if you're not comfortable _doing_ that... but..."

She nodded again. "Y-Yeah... there's a reason..."

He smiled kindly at her, his ears lifting back up again. "Okay. Don't worry. I won't bring it up again."

She smiled and blushed happily through her tears, thanking the legendaries for bestowing such an understanding Pokemon upon her. "Thanks."

He scooted back to where he'd been sitting before, then moved the berries back into place between them. "No problem."

There was a comfortable silence between them for a few moments, Buneary feeling that no words needed to be spoken and assuming that the Pikachu felt the same way as he picked his berry back up again.

Suddenly, a thought came to her. "Pikachu?"

He looked at her. "Hmm?"

"What... what about _you_? I mean, you were living alone even before I _met_ you... What about... _your_ clan?"

She'd assumed that his past and family life had been much happier than hers... before he'd moved to his current burrow... but she received a shock when a dark expression flashed across his eyes. It was only there for a moment, but she could see pain, anger and depression... and it _really_ scared her.

He turned away, his ears drooping slightly. "I'd... rather not talk about it..."

She suddenly felt very bad for asking. "I'm sorry..."

He shook his head, his ears perking up slightly. "It's okay." He turned back to her and gave a small smile. "I guess we _both_ have pasts we don't wanna talk about, huh? Who woulda thought?"

She gave a half-chuckle, still too disturbed by everything to do much else. "Yeah... Strange coincidence."

There was another awkward pause between them, the Pikachu passing his untouched Kelpsy berry from one paw to the other while staring intently at it. Buneary watched him, unsure of what to say and feeling a mixture of guilt and self-pity.

The Pikachu looked up again, smiling normally. "Hey, let's not dwell on it, okay? _You_ have _your_ reasons for not going home... and _I_ have _mine_. We can leave it at that, can't we?"

She smiled back and nodded. "Yeah, we _can_."

She was grateful that he understood and was willing to allow her to keep her dark secrets to herself... and, although she did want to know all about him and his family life, she didn't want to force any details out of him. Not only would it be unfair, it would also make him upset... and she really didn't want her beloved Pikachu to get upset.

The Pikachu bit into his Kelpsy berry, finally looking content, and the sight of him doing so made her want to do the same. Mimicking him, she bit into her own, cringing before continuing to chew.

He chuckled. "You cringe _every_ time you eat a berry."

She blushed in embarrassment, glancing down at her berry. "Yeah, I know... It's kind of annoying, but I can't help it!" She glanced back up at him, but the sight of him beaming at her made her heart skip a few beats.

"Well, I think it's cute."

She stared at him, unable to believe that he'd just said that. _C... Cute?_ she thought. Her face burned an even brighter shade of red. _He... thinks I'm... cute? _She immediately dropped her Kelpsy berry on the grass and dove for the cover of her fluffy fur, pulling it up in front of her face and hiding behind it.

She squealed in delight, unable to contain her sudden burst of happiness. She thought she heard a sigh from somewhere, but she ignored it; the important thing was that the Pikachu had called her cute! She danced behind her fur, giggling joyfully; ah, life could be so grand sometimes.


	8. Family Business

Author's note: There's a chance that this chapter may upset some readers. Hopefully not, but hey... they _are_ wild Pokemon. Do note, though, that this fic is still a K+ and will always remain so.

Also, I struggled on a title for this one. The choice I eventually made is a song by Kanye West... though I'm not really happy with it. If there's a better one I could have used, do let me know.

**Chapter Eight: Family Business**

Buneary anxiously fidgeted in the Pikachu's nest as she glanced out at the darkening sky; for some odd reason, the electric mouse had asked her to stay put while he left to fetch something... and it was worrying her that he hadn't come back yet, not just because _he_ could get into danger, but also because _she_ could get into danger in his absence.

According to what he'd told her, he'd decided to bring home a special dinner to celebrate the two of them living together. Although she found this incredibly sweet, she suspected that it had something to do with their talk that morning about why neither of them wanted to see their clans. She guessed it was also a treat to cheer them both up after getting so miserable, which she found just as sweet.

What she didn't understand, however, was why he hadn't wanted her to go with him to get this treat. He'd said that he wanted to surprise her, but what he could possibly surprise her with, she had no idea.

_He said I'd be safe, as long as I stayed hidden..._ she thought, _but what if he's wrong? What if something attacks while he's not here? What'll I do __**then**__?_

She really didn't know the answer to this question, but the Pikachu had assured her that he wouldn't be gone long and that all she had to do was keep as near to the back of the burrow as possible.

"_If anything __**does**__ happen, though," he'd said while smiling warmly at her, "scream as loud as possible. I'll hear you and come running."_

She sighed, huddling closer to the dirt wall. _Oh, Pikachu... where are you?_

* * *

Pikachu couldn't help but smile in satisfaction as he heaved his evening meal back to his burrow; as promised, he hadn't been gone long before he'd been able to round up this tasty treat... and Arceus knows that he and the Buneary really needed a treat after their little talk that morning.

It had been so awkward, being confronted about his past like he had... and he could tell that it had been awkward for her too. All day, he'd been trying to think of a way to appease the situation, until, finally, he'd come up with _this_. He was certain that she'd be pleasantly surprised.

Spotting his burrow, he immediately made a beeline for it, his smile widening; yes, _this_ should cheer her up nicely. It was certainly cheering_ him_ up. She'd push aside all negative feelings about him sticking his nose in where it didn't belong and simply chow down on the meal. His mouth was watering at the mere thought of tonight's feast; it had been quite a while since he'd eaten this kind of thing, so he was very much looking forward to it.

"I'm back!" he called out as he entered his burrow.

The Buneary leapt to her feet and beamed. "Pikachu!" she replied.

"Nothing attack you while I was gone?"

The Buneary shook her head. "Nope!" She paused to look at what he'd dragged inside. "What's that?"

He grinned and tossed the meal in front of her. "Our dinner!"

She stared at it. "Our... dinner?"

He laughed at her odd expression. "Yeah. Well, dig in! I'll let _you_ have first _bite_!"

She continued to stare at the meal, her expression slowly turning from shock to nausea. "B... Bite?"

The smile fell off his face as worry filled him. "Hey, are you okay?"

She slowly backed away, one step at a time, her paws lifting to cover her mouth. At this point, he could almost swear that she was turning slightly green underneath her fur.

"Oh, my-"

"Buneary?" He took a step toward her, his ears lowering at how sick she suddenly looked.

"You... you want me to... _eat_ that?"

He suddenly wondered if, maybe, this had been a bad idea. "Well... _I_ eat them occasionally..."

He eyes bulged out of their sockets. "You... you _what_?"

"You mean you _don't_?"

"You... you're a... a..." Her back hit the dirt wall. "_Cannibal_?"

Now he was confused. "Wha-? No!" He pointed to the meal. "If I was a cannibal, that would be a Pikachu or something."

"It's still another Pokemon! You _eat_ other _Pokemon_?"

He lowered his arm. "Well... only invertebrates..."

She shuddered, then paused. "Is it... dead?"

"Well, no... he's just unconscious."

"You... you dragged an unconscious Wurmple in here... so we could _eat_ it?"

He stared at the floor and scuffed his foot in embarrassment. "Well, yeah... See... I'm an omnivore... and omnivores need to eat _meat_ occasionally..." He looked up at her. "I assumed _you_ were one too... Are you not?"

"No!"

He blushed. "Oh..." He looked down at the Wurmple, whom he'd been dragging there by the tail, and suddenly felt guilt consume him. "I'm sorry..." He paused, feeling self-hatred creep in with the guilt. He frowned at himself. "Arceus, I'm so stupid! I wanted to make things better between us, but I only ended up making things _worse_! Why am I such an idiot?"

There was a pause. "I-It's okay..." He looked up at her to see that she was attempting to smile at him. "I forgive you."

He attempted to smile back. "Thanks... but, next time, I'll try to remember you're a vegetarian."

She giggled lightly. "No, it's not _that_... Rabbits are herbivores."

His blush deepened at his tremendous mistake; okay, now he felt like the world's biggest fool. "Oh, crud... that's even _worse_... I'm so sorry."

She shook her head. "Don't worry about it... _I_ didn't know mice were _omnivores_. We _both_ made stupid mistakes." She giggled again. "And there was _me_ thinking you'd gone carnivore on me."

He had to laugh at that. "Yeah... sorry for scaring you."

"No worries." There was an awkward pause. "So... what are you gonna do with the Wurmple?"

He shrugged. "Eh, I've lost my appetite for him now. I'll let the little guy go."

She nodded. "Okay." She paused. "You know, you're free to eat meat, since it's part of your diet and all... but I'd prefer if it wasn't near _me_."

He nodded back at her. "Duly noted." He roughly poked the Wurmple. "Hey! Hey, buddy! Wake up!"

The Wurmple slowly opened his eyes. "Ugh, wha-?" he asked.

Pikachu grinned. "It's your lucky day, 'cause I'm letting you go! Off you go now! Scoot!"

The Wurmple blinked a couple of times, stared at Pikachu, then widened his eyes in panic. "Oh, Arceus! A mouse! A mouse!" He began to flail wildly. "I don't wanna die! Somebody save me!"

Pikachu slapped a paw to his face, unable to believe the stupidity of the worm Pokemon. "Oh, for crying out-" He removed the paw. "I said you can go! I probably would have eaten you _otherwise_, but I've changed my mind!" He gestured towards the entrance. "Go!" He paused for a moment. _Probably not the best thing to say,_ he thought,_ but I __**am**__ feeling kinda frustrated with the little guy._

The Wurmple's head darted back and forth before he made a beeline for the exit. Pikachu watched in exasperation as the worm tried very hard to run away, yet was only able to move at the pace only a legless invertebrate could manage. After a while, he was finally out of sight.

* * *

Buneary was quiet as she and the Pikachu ate the improvised version of their dinner – which was Oran berries again – since she was still having trouble shaking off the image from earlier. The mere thought of eating another Pokemon made her sick to her stomach, but she wasn't sure whether it was more the fact that eating meat would screw up her digestive system or that she simply considered it barbaric. She guessed that it was a mixture of both.

Honestly, she'd never even considered that her beloved Pikachu might be an omnivore; she'd only ever seen him as a fellow prey Pokemon, stuck in the same boat as her. She'd learned something new about him today... something that she wasn't terribly happy about, but was willing to accept; it _was_ still a part of him, after all.

The Pikachu hadn't spoken much either since the debacle, so she guessed that he was still embarrassed about the huge mistake that he'd made. However, this did mean that there was currently a rather awkward silence hanging in the air as they ate their berries.

_I thought we were the same,_ she thought, _especially after finding out that we both have dark pasts we don't wanna talk about... but it seems there are things we __**don't**__ have in common..._ She inwardly sighed. _Such a shame..._

Despite this, she wasn't about to change her opinion of him; he was still her saviour and knight in shining armour... and she still held a lot of affection for him... but she was slightly less comfortable around him than before.

She shook her head; no, it wasn't as if he'd ever turn around and try to eat _her_, since he'd specifically said that he only ate _invertebrates_... but she wouldn't be able to look at him now without the word 'cannibal' floating idly across her brain. She shook her head again, trying to clear away the traitorous thought.

"Hey..." the Pikachu said. She looked at him to see that he was squinting out the burrow entrance, "look at that."

She turned to follow his gaze and saw something very peculiar: a swarm of moving dots in the sky that weren't there before. She squinted at them, trying to figure out what they were. "What is it?" she asked.

"... I'm not sure..." The Pikachu walked into her line of vision, no longer holding his berry, and continued to stare at the weird dots. "Looks like they're coming this way, though."

Her eyes widened in surprise. "Really?" Standing up, she dropped her berry on the floor and walked over to stand beside him. "Are they Pokemon?"

"I... _think_ so..."

A thought came to mind, striking fear into her heart. "Wh... What if they're dangerous?"

She sensed the Pikachu stiffen beside her. "If they _are_, then I'll just have to battle them."

"Pikachu..."

A few moments passed by. "Wait... I think they're... They _are_! They're butterflies! A swarm of butterflies!"

"Butterflies?" She stared hard at the swarm that was growing bigger by the second, finally noticing their wings. "You're right! Butterflies!"

"Wait... I think I see some moths too."

"Moths?"

Two members of the swarm suddenly broke free of the others and flew ahead, side-by-side, until they were floating directly in front of the burrow. Buneary had to lift her head to make eye-contact, but what she saw there wasn't very welcoming.

A Butterfree and a Beautifly – male and female respectively, by the scent of them – were glaring down at them from their position in the air. She didn't have much time to wonder why before the rest of the swarm came to a stop behind the two butterflies, clearly marking them out as the leaders.

She blinked as she looked around; the area above her was now littered with Butterfree, Beautifly and Dustox, all of which were carrying on their backs either a Caterpie, a Metapod, a Wurmple, a Silcoon or a Cascoon... and with the mass of Pokemon, the scents related to gender were getting mixed up in her nostrils. It was rather frustrating, but she could no longer decipher gender the usual way. She had no choice but to resort to the pattern differences of the butterflies and the antenna sizes of the moths to give her the answer. The rest of them, unfortunately, had no gender differences... much like her own species.

"Um, hello!" The Pikachu gave a short wave. "What can we do for you?"

"I assume _you_ are the Pikachu who tried to eat my son?" the Butterfree asked coldly.

_Oh, crud..._ Buneary thought, suddenly worried, _this is not good..._

"Um..." Pikachu replied, sounding very sheepish, "well..."

"Yeah, that's the one, Pop!" one of the Wurmple called out.

Buneary looked at him and blanched. _Oh, Arceus..._ she thought, _that's the same Wurmple from earlier, isn't it?_

"Unforgivable!" the Beautifly cried on outrage. "Nobody tries to eat my baby and gets away with it!"

"Hold on a minute, dear," the Butterfree said, still in the cold tone from earlier. "Mr. Pikachu... did you or did you not try to eat our son?"

From the corner of her eye, Buneary saw the Pikachu visibly shrink in embarrassment. "Well... yeah..." he replied.

The Beautifly bristled her wings. "Unforgivable," she snapped. "Simply unforgivable!"

"Teach him a lesson, alpha!" one of the Dustox called out.

"Yeah!" one of the Metapod called out. "Run him into the ground!"

"Our clan runs on a strict code of 'You hurt _one_ of us, you hurt _all_ of us'..." the Butterfree explained, "so, you see, my mate and I simply can't allow you to get away with this."

"You lured my son away from his family," the Beautifly cried, "knocked him out, dragged him away and planned to eat him for dinner!" She rounded on Buneary. "And _you_ were in on the whole thing, weren't you? You were going to share him! You're sick!"

"Whu-?" Buneary asked, frowning in offense at the remark.

"No," the Pikachu tried to explain, "Buneary had nothing to-"

"Don't feed me that!" the Beautifly shrieked, flapping wildly. "My son told me the whole thing! You dragged him here to share him!" She turned to the Butterfree. "Honey, it's time to teach these cannibals a lesson!"

The Butterfree nodded. "Yes, let's," he replied.

* * *

Pikachu stood his ground, waiting for the attack that was sure to follow. As he did so, he tried to figure out a way to protect both himself and the Buneary at the same time, which would probably be difficult with both bug/flying types after them. Things would get even more difficult if the rest of the clan decided to join in.

He was regretting letting that Wurmple go now. Never before had he let his prey escape, but he made a mental note never to do it again; the one time that he'd let his prey go and the little sneak had gotten his entire family on him. If this was a usual occurrence, then he was going to make sure in future that, if he went to the trouble of _getting_ the prey, he was going to make sure to _eat_ it.

"Allow _me_ to start us off!" the Beautifly cried, swooping backwards to keep her clan out of her way. "Silver Wind!"

She flapped her wings harder, creating a stream of visible wind that aimed straight for him and the Buneary. He braced himself as the attack got closer. When it hit, it struck with a painful blow that made him wince, then began to push him backwards. He dug his feet into the dirt to keep himself still, but it was no use; he was sliding back inside his burrow.

"My turn!" the Butterfree called out. "Energy Ball!"

A green ball glowing with energy appeared in front of his mouth before it shot towards Pikachu. Determined not to be hit again, he jumped to the side to avoid the attack. He was pleased that he'd avoided it until he heard a shriek from the Buneary. Panicked, he looked over at her to see her lying on her back and wincing.

"Buneary!" he cried. _Oh, crud..._ he thought, _I'm meant to be __**protecting**__ her! And I just let her get hurt!_

"Psybeam!" the Beautifly called out.

Pikachu turned his head just in time to see a stream of multi-coloured light shoot out of her eyes before it smacked him in the chest. He toppled over backwards.

_Darn it!_ He quickly climbed to his feet. _They're attacking too fast for me to __**do**__ anything!_

"Psychic," the Butterfree stated coldly.

Pikachu's eyes widened in panic. _Uh oh._ He felt himself being lifted off the ground.

The Buneary screamed. "Put me down, put me down, put me down!" she shrieked.

They had no control of their own bodies now; they were completely under the control of the Butterfree... and Pikachu was rather frightened of the possibilities.

"Now it's time to have some fun with you."

Pikachu suddenly slammed into the hard ground, but had no time to recover before he was slammed into the Buneary, once, twice, three times, then slammed back into the ground. He was then lifted into the air and made to spin in nauseating circles around the Buneary before being slammed into her again. He then suddenly flew backwards and hit the dirt wall of his burrow. It was at this moment that he felt control over his body returning, but his first concern was the Buneary.

"Are you alright?" he asked, panicked.

"Ugh..." she replied, struggling to sit up. "It hurts..."

"We're not done with you," the Butterfree stated. "Psychic!"

Once again, control left his body as he and the Buneary were lifted off the ground and thrown outside the burrow. They hit the floor and skidded face-first through the dirt before control of their bodies returned again.

_This is getting ridiculous..._ Pikachu thought as he dragged himself to his feet, pain stabbing at his muscles. _I have to put an end to this._

"Giga Drain!" the Beautifly called out.

He flinched at the feeling of his power being sucked out of his body. His frustration was starting to grow now; these butterflies were making a mockery of him and the Buneary and he was not going to stand for this much longer. If only they'd give him the slightest bit of breathing space, so that he could launch a counter attack...

"Ominous Wind!" the Butterfree called out, flapping his wings harder and releasing a burst of purple wind.

When it struck, it caused him much more pain than Silver Wind had. He felt his teeth clenching together in an attempt to endure it.

_Can't let this go on any longer..._ he thought.

"Ominous Wind again!"

_Crud, it increased his speed, so he's doing it again!_

Again, he was hit with the painful attack. He clenched his teeth harder as he felt one of his legs buckle. He was just trying to think up a counter strategy when he heard the Buneary crying quietly next to him. His entire body froze; they'd made her cry? They'd put her through so much pain that they'd made her _cry_?

Blind fury swam welcomingly through his veins. This was the straw that had broken the Camerupt's back; they'd gone _too_ far. He was now furious beyond words. In fact, his electric sacks, reacting to his fury, were sparkling with dangerous amounts of electricity that were causing his cheeks to tingle.

The Buneary's crying had apparently intrigued the butterflies, for they'd momentarily ceased their barrage of attacks. He took this as his golden opportunity and summoned all of his power to finally deal them the pain they deserved. Clenching his fists, he imagined his highest voltage and commanded it to be let loose. He felt sinister satisfaction as he felt it shoot outwards from his heart and envelop his entire body.

"Thundeeeeeer_boooooolt_!" he screamed, letting the bottled-up electricity fly free.

The butterflies only noticed the attack too late and were completely blanketed by it, as were the rest of the swarm. Screams of agony ripped through the air as the entire clan were electrocuted, some receiving a lot more pain than others, due to their types. Finally, Pikachu heard the all too familiar – and very satisfying – explosion which gave him his cue to stop releasing electricity. He watched with a smirk as the swarm vanished over the horizon.

He chuckled, then that chuckle turned into a laugh before he fell flat on his face. He groaned at the impact.

"Pikachu!" the Buneary cried. He heard her sliding over to him. "Are you alright?" Her paw gently tapped his side. "Pikachu?"

"Yeah... I'm okay..." His voice was somewhat muffled by the dirt, but he was too tired to move. "I just need an Oran berry or two and everything'll be peachy."

"Okay. Here, I'll get you back inside the burrow." He felt her dragging him towards the burrow, but she sounded like she was struggling with her injuries.

"Don't strain yourself. Just bring me an Oran berry. I'll be fine."

There was a pause. "Well, okay. Hold on a sec." She scuffled away.

"Ugh..." He paused. "Note to self: devour all Wurmple..."


	9. Catch Me If You Can

Author's note: Hey! Another update from yours truly! It was supposed to be written a bit earlier than this, but I came home for the holidays and lazed around... but hey, it's still early for _me_, right? Haha.

Anyway, the chapter title is a song (from the movie short Pikachu's Vacation) by Angela Via... although, as I was writing this chapter, all I could hear in my head was Yakety Sax by Boots Randolph. XD

**Chapter Nine: Catch Me If You Can**

Buneary was quiet as she and the Pikachu ate lunch; even though they were snacking on flowers and sitting in the cool shade of a tree beside the ever-beautiful lake, her mind had been uneasy ever since the previous night.

Firstly, discovering that the Pikachu ate meat had been a really unpleasant shock. She was still finding it hard to believe and, every time she thought about eating a Wurmple herself, her stomach would churn. Part of her wished that she was an omnivore too, just so that the awkwardness she felt would go away, because the ordeal was causing a slight rift between them that she really wanted to close.

Secondly, a part of her wished that the Pikachu hadn't let the Wurmple go, which had prompted the worm Pokemon to call for backup and rage a war against them. This made her feel ill and somewhat annoyed with herself, as she was essentially wishing for the consumption of another Pokemon.

Thirdly, she was, once again, being eaten away at from the inside by guilt and self-hatred; she'd sat back yesterday and allowed herself and the Pikachu to be pounded repeatedly by the Butterfree and Beautifly without doing a thing to help. Not only had it been really painful to be thrown around like a ragdoll, but she had repeatedly been slammed into her beloved Pikachu, unable to do anything but let it happen. She'd hurt him... she'd hurt the Pokemon that she most cared about... _then_ she'd had to watch him continue to suffer.

The Butterfree's Ominous Wind hadn't hurt her all that much, being that it was a ghost-type move and she was a normal-type Pokemon, but she'd seen how much it had been hurting _him_; he'd been flinching violently as the wind had pushed him backwards, visibly gritting his teeth. Self-hatred had overwhelmed her at that point; she'd known that she'd been unable to help him, not only because she was too weak, but also because she'd been too scared. It had killed her to watch him go through so much pain... and, when his leg had buckled after the _second_ Ominous Wind, she'd been unable to stand any more and had started crying.

She bit into the daisy that she was holding as she contemplated her life with the Pikachu so far; she really hadn't been much use to him at all in all the time that she'd been living with him. The only time where she'd ever been the slightest bit of use was back when she'd used Dizzy Punch on that Houndoom after he'd attacked the Pikachu with Giga Impact. Other than that, she'd spent all of her time cowering behind him and letting him do all the work. Now, she definitely remembered thinking to herself that it was alright, since her inability to fight was what brought her to him in the first place, but she was started to wonder if, maybe, the time had come for her to finally get off her fluffy backside and do something about it.

Back when she'd been living with her clan, she'd never been much of a battler; fighting was never something that she'd particularly liked doing and she'd always thought that training involved too much unnecessary work. While everyone else had been struggling through blood, sweat and tears to get stronger, she'd always preferred simply to enjoy herself. She'd never liked the thought of all the pain and effort it took to become a stronger Pokemon, so she'd barely ever bothered with it. Unfortunately, this had led to a devastating chain reaction, which had led to her being useless in being able to defend herself. It had been all her fault and she knew it all too well.

Maybe she should finally start taking training as seriously as she was supposed to. Perhaps then, she could finally be of some use to the Pikachu. Every encounter with a wild Pokemon just seemed to hammer the point home harder that she was useless. Instead of accepting it as fate, maybe she should try fighting it?

Her thoughts were immediately cut short as something dashed past her at lightning speed, the wind from its flight blowing back her ears. She blinked in astonishment, her head turning quickly to where the thing had run off to. She hadn't even heard it coming; that was a worrying thought.

"What was _that_?" she asked.

The Pikachu sighed. "Aw, no..." he replied.

She turned back to him, about to question his odd response, when a Pachirisu ran into the clearing on its four legs, panting and looking rather annoyed... and she was amazed when her sense of smell told her that it was the female Pachirisu from the other day.

"Get back here right now, or I'll-!" she yelled, only stopping when she caught sight of her and the Pikachu. "Oh..." She cleared her throat, stood up on two legs and attempted to smooth out her short white fur. "It's you two."

The Pikachu smiled pleasantly. "Hi, Pachirisu."

Buneary, meanwhile, was quite perplexed; it was true that she'd only met the Pachirisu once, but the calm, collected and snarky squirrel from back then contrasted horribly with the grumpy, slightly manic squirrel that she'd just seen a moment ago... before said squirrel had tried to cover it up.

The Pachirisu leaned on the nearest tree, now looking as smug as the last time that Buneary had seen her. "Hey, Pikachu." She glanced at Buneary, the corner of her mouth twitching slightly. "Buneary."

Buneary suddenly felt like she wanted to sink into a hole; the Pachirisu obviously hadn't quite forgiven her over the religion debacle from last time. "Hey," she meekly replied.

Before any more could be said, the tiny creature from before came back again, zipping around Buneary and the Pikachu in large circles. The speed of the thing was mind-boggling to Buneary; how could anything run that fast? She couldn't really tell what it was, but she could certainly see flashes of white, blue and yellow.

Suddenly, it skidded to a halt and leapt at the Pikachu, latching onto him with a huge grin... and Buneary could finally see – and smell – that it was a male Pachirisu.

"Hiiiiiii, big bro!" he called out happily, then crawled around the Pikachu's upper torso.

Buneary blinked in confusion. '_Big bro'?_ she thought.

The Pikachu sighed, a tired smile on his face. "Hi, Pachirisu," he replied.

The little tyke came to a stop between the Pikachu's ears – his paws resting on the larger head with his own head peeking over the paws – and giggled. Buneary couldn't help but notice how adorable he was.

"Nooooo! When my big sis is around, you're supposed to call us 'Pachi Big' and 'Pachi Small'!"

The Pikachu shook his head, 'Pachi Small' being taken for a short ride as he did so. "Right... sorry, Pachi Small."

Surprised at what the male Pachirisu had said, Buneary looked over at 'Pachi Big'. "Big sis?" she asked.

"Yeah," she replied, looking at a spot in the distance, rather than at her face. "This here speed demon is my little brother. You probably remember me talking about him the other day?" She paused, her eye twitching slightly at the mention of the other day. "He runs away a lot and _I'm_ usually the one sent out to catch him."

Buneary fidgeted, feeling uncomfortable at the lack of eye contact. "That must be annoying."

"Yup. The little guy's a freak of nature. I mean, okay, it's normal for Pachirisu to be a bit hyperactive... but _he's_ got more energy than the whole clan put together." She finally looked Buneary in the eyes and smirked. "Not to mention, he runs at the speed of a freaking Rapidash. That's certainly not normal."

"Aww, don't be meeeean!" Pachi Small whined, climbing down off the Pikachu and zooming over to his big sister. "I'm not a freak! I'm just _special_!" His face lit up with a million-watt smile that made Buneary want to melt. "Special and cute! Think you can resist my cute? I don't _think_ you can resist my cute!" He started bounding around, seeming to be packed full of energy. "I wanna play! Who wants to play with me? Can we play tag? I like tag! Bet you can't catch me!"

Pachi Big put her paw on his head and stopped his bounding. "Settle down! Jeez, what is with you? I'm sure you're permanently hopped up on Pecha berries or something."

It was only at this point that Buneary noticed the slight differences between the two siblings; not only was there the gender difference concerning the size of the stripe on their heads, but Pachi Small was a head shorter than Pachi Big. She found this oddly fascinating.

Suddenly, Pachi Small noticed her presence and dashed over to her. "Ooh, hello! Who are you? Are you big bro's friend?" He jumped up and tugged at her ear. She yelped in shock and pain. "You're cute! Are you a rabbit? Rabbits are cute, aren't they?" He let go of her ear and started tugging at the fur around her waist. "Ooh! You're so soft! I'll bet it's nice to curl up inside this soft fur on cold nights, huh? I'll bet it is! I wish _I_ had fur this soft!"

"Uh... yeah..." she replied. She was still reeling from the sharp pain in her ear – as well as being grossly overwhelmed by everything that he was saying – so she couldn't answer properly.

The Pachirisu stared at her for a moment, then let go of her fur and bounded up and down. "Oh! Oh! I've seen you before, haven't I? Just vaguely! I think I saw you drinking from the lake the other day when I was running past! That was you, right?" He giggled behind his paws. "Couldn't stop to chat, though. I was too busy burning off the energy!"

Buneary stared at him, trying to comprehend what he'd just said. "Huh?"

He stopped bounding around and suddenly looked thoughtful. "Although, the funny thing was, I'm sure I hit something as I was running past." He paused, then giggled again. "No clue what it was, but, straight after, I heard a scream and a splash. Isn't that weird?"

Again, Buneary stared at him, until something clicked into place. "It was _you_? _You_ knocked me into the lake?"

"Oh, that was you I hit?" He giggled again. "Oops! Sorry!"

The Pikachu sighed. "I knew it..." he mumbled.

Buneary felt flabbergasted as she looked at him. _He knew?_ she thought, feeling slightly betrayed. _Why didn't he tell me?_ She paused, unsure about whether to let him off or not. _Was it not worth mentioning?_

Pachi Big sniggered. Buneary looked at her to see a huge smirk on her face. "Well, isn't that something," she said. "Seems you two are already acquainted."

Buneary half-glared at her – not really angry enough to give a _full_ glare – then shot the other half of the glare at Pachi Small, who was chasing his tail on four legs.

"Tail!" he called out happily. "Tail, tail, tail!" He finally caught it and snuggled into it like a pillow. Buneary's head nearly imploded from the sheer cuteness.

"Anyway, come on, tyke! Time to go home."

Pachi Small jumped up, grinning. "Nooooo! I wanna play tag with big bro and the cute bunny girl!" He jumped around. "Tag, tag, tag, tag, tag!"

The Pikachu sighed. "Alright..." he replied, "_one_ game of-"

"Yaaaaay!" He dashed off at lightning speed. "Try and catch me!"

The Pikachu put a paw to his forehead. "Dear Arceus, what have I gotten myself into?"

Pachi Small sniggered at him. "Yeah, good luck with that," she said.

He looked up at her, his paw dropping back down to his side. "You not coming?"

"Heck no." She smirked wider. "I've suffered too much today, thanks to that little brat. I'm giving my poor paws a rest." She lifted herself off the tree and ran up its bark on all fours, only settling to stop when she reached a branch that was sticking out of the leaves. She lay down on her stomach, dangling her paw of the edge. "I'll wait for you up here."

Buneary was somewhat affronted. _Why, the nerve of that-!_ she thought angrily. _Letting the two of us go chasing after her little brother while she sits up there and watches?_

The Pikachu stood up, dropping the rest of his flower on the floor. "Alright," he said, "best get this over with." He looked at her. "What are _you_ doing, Buneary? You can stay _here_, if you like... though I might _be_ a while."

She stared at him for a moment, then shook her head with a smile. "You're too nice, you know that?" She couldn't help but blush happily at her own statement as she stood up; he really _was_ too nice, offering to chase down someone else's little brother for them. "I'll help."

He smiled back at her. "Okay then." He got on all fours. "Let's go!" He ran off.

She hopped after him. "Right behind you!"

* * *

Pikachu ran all out on his four legs, trying with all his might to catch up to the small Pachirisu ahead of him – with the Buneary hopping as fast as she could beside him – despite knowing how fruitless his efforts truly were. He'd attempted to catch the little tyke before a few times, so he knew that he was wasting his time, but he'd been unable to resist saying 'yes' to his pleas for a game of tag. Honestly, his biggest weakest was probably his inability to say 'no' whenever something was asked of him. Not to mention, he did kind of see Pachi Small as a little brother and he'd have really hurt the little guy's feelings if he'd turned him down.

_That kid **knows** which buttons to press,_ he thought with another tired smile.

"Arceus, he's fast!" the Buneary called out.

"I know," he replied. "_Unbelievably_ fast!"

The Pachirisu ran around a tree a few times, then zoomed off in another direction. Pikachu had to skid to stop before changing direction to follow. The Buneary, however, had been in mid-hop, so she fell over.

"Oof!"

He looked back at her as he continued running. "You okay, Buneary?"

She climbed to her feet and hopped after him. "Yeah, I'm fine!"

He turned back to where he was running, but had to skid to another stop to avoid crashing into a tree. _Really should watch where I'm going..._ he thought. He quickly changed direction and carrying on with the chase.

"He shouldn't be able to run this fast!"

"I know."

"And on two legs? _Two legs_?"

"I know! It's weird!"

"Pachirisu shouldn't be able to run this fast on _four_ legs, never mind _two_!"

"Yeah, but this guy's special. He's ridiculously _fast_!" Suddenly, he noticed that the Pachirisu had disappeared. He stopped, the Buneary stopping next to him as he looked around. "Where'd he go?"

"I dunno..."

The Pachirisu skidded to a stop next to them. "Aww!" he said with a grin on his face. "You giving up? Don't be giving up! We were just starting to have fun!"

The Buneary leapt at him. "Gotcha!"

He quickly zipped out of the way and she hit the grass face-first and slid along it. The Pachirisu giggled maniacally and ran off again.

Pikachu sighed. "You okay?" he asked.

The Buneary stood back up again, spitting grass and dirt from her mouth. "Yeah... I'm fine."

"Come on, you Slowpoke!" the Pachirisu called out giddily. "Come and get me!"

Pikachu shook his head and took off again, the Buneary soon hopping alongside him. _Why must I agree to this every time, when I __**know**__ I can't catch him?_ he thought.

He assumed that this scenario must have looked pretty amusing to any Pokemon that was watching: a mouse and a rabbit looking like complete morons as they chased a speed demon squirrel round and round and round the forest, back and forth, back and forth, completely unable to catch him.

Finally, they were able to surround him – as best as two Pokemon could, anyway – and Pikachu felt a little bit more confident about being able to catch him now. After all, he'd never had help catching him before, so, with the Buneary here, he might finally be successful.

"We've got you now!" the Buneary said with a grin.

"Uh oh..." Pachirisu said, looking worriedly from one to the other.

Pikachu couldn't help but grin himself. "Ready, Buneary?" he asked.

"Ready!" she replied.

"One..."

"Two..."

"Three!"

Pikachu leapt at the Pachirisu, the Buneary mirroring him, and, for one tiny moment, he thought that he had him... but the little tyke quickly zipped away at the last second. Pikachu had no time to panic before his head collided with the Buneary's very painfully. They collapsed in a heap on the grass.

"Ugh..."

He rubbed his head. "Ow... sorry, Buneary..."

"Me too... Palkia, he's fast."

"Yeah..."

"Slowpoke, Slowpoke, Slowpoke!" the Pachirisu called out, running in circles around them. "No one can catch me! No one, no one, no one!"

The Buneary leapt towards him, but missed, yet again landing on her face. The Pachirisu cackled and ran off. The Buneary groaned, her voice muffled by the grass.

She pushed herself up. "That kid is impossible to catch," she said. "I've never known a Pokemon who could run so fast."

Pikachu sighed. "Yup..." he replied. "I can't even catch him when I use Quick Attack." She glanced questioningly at him. "Trust me, I've tried."

The Buneary sighed, then paused and smiled shyly at him. "One more try?"

He grinned at her, amused by her determination. "Yeah... one more try."

Off they went again, Pikachu running on all fours and the Buneary hopping on two legs, and, once again, they became part of what must have been a very comedic chase between them and the Pachirisu. Partway through, they managed to backtrack on themselves and pass under the tree that Pachi Big was still lying on a branch of.

"Having fun down there?" she called out smugly.

Pikachu was vaguely annoyed at her, but it didn't bother him too much; he was used to her lazing around while he did everything, after all. However, he suddenly got the desire to catch Pachi Small, simply to prove to Pachi Big that he could. Conjuring up the image of speeding up his running, he focused very intently on it until he felt the power spread outward from his heart and flow through his limbs. Once he felt the slight bulge in his muscles, he was ready to use his attack in a last-ditch attempt to catch the Pachirisu.

"Quick Attack!"

He zoomed after him, only vaguely noticing that the Buneary had squeaked in surprise at his sudden take-off. Pachi Small, however, made a high-pitched trill of joy at the sight of him taking him seriously and made a hard right to avoid him. Pikachu skidded along the grass, turned and followed him.

Their little comedy act carried on a while longer, Pikachu continually coming within an inch of catching the Pachirisu until he slipped away at the last moment. The Buneary constantly kept trying to keep up with them, but, seeing as see could neither hop fast enough nor use Quick Attack, she was constantly left in the dust. Pikachu did feel a bit guilty about this, but he was determined to catch the Pachirisu this time around.

"Hey, Pikachu!" a Rattata's voice called out.

He glanced to the side to see that he was passing by his friend, who was sunbathing by the lake again. "Sorry, Rattata, can't talk now!" He sped past him.

* * *

Buneary was exhausted from chasing the small Pachirisu around all afternoon, but she also felt strangely satisfied; she and the Pikachu had finally cornered the little tyke up a tree. He'd climbed up the tree in his excitement, only now realising that he was stuck up there. He was looking back and forth between the smirking mouse and rabbit with a look of genuine fear on his face.

"Nowhere left to run," the Pikachu, who was standing on his hind legs, said playfully. "I think I've finally got you this time."

"Yep!" Buneary agreed. "Time to get caught!" She hopped closer to the tree.

"... You'll never catch me!" the Pachirisu called out. "Never!" She stopped where she was and looked up at him, realising with horror that his cheeks were sparking. "Discharge!"

She wasn't able to get away in time as the blue electricity shot down the tree truck and struck a direct hit on her. The pain was immense. Every cell in her body felt like it had been forced awake after a long sleep and her heart felt like a Shellder was using Clamp on it, letting go, using Clamp on it and letting go continually.

Finally, the attack ended and she collapsed on her back in the grass. _So that's what being electrocuted feels like..._ she thought dazedly. _Ow..._

Glancing up at the Pikachu, she noticed that he'd changed position at the last moment; he was now facing away from the Pachirisu on all fours with his tail straight in the air... and was looking worriedly at her.

"You okay, Buneary?" he asked.

She chuckled half-heartedly; he'd asked her that a lot today. "Yeah... fine..." she replied as she struggled to sit up.

"Aww!" the Pachirisu said, giggling as he ran back down the tree. "You avoided my Discharge, big bro! How did you do that, huh?" He bounced around. "How? How? How?"

The Pikachu stood up on his hind legs, chuckling lightly. "I learned a new trick since the last time," he replied. "I found out I can use my tail like a lightning rod."

The Pachirisu looked fascinated. "_Really_?"

The Pikachu nodded. "Yep." He smirked. "So, no more electrocutions for _me_." He paused and glanced at Buneary. "But I think we'll call it quits for today."

Now the Pachirisu looked disappointed. "Aww, why?"

The Pikachu smiled. "'Cause I think Buneary's had enough."

Buneary fidgeted uncomfortably. _Yeah, 'cause I'm too weak to handle his attacks..._ she thought.

"Aww, okay!" the Pachirisu replied. "I'll go home for now then! Maybe we can play again some time, huh? Huh?"

"Sure," the Pikachu said. "This round goes to _you_, though."

"Yay!" He dashed straight past them, in the direction of his big sister. "Bye, big bro! Bye, cute bunny girl!"

The Pikachu turned and waved. "Bye!" He then dropped his paw back down and turned to Buneary. "Well, how about we head back to the burrow for a rest? We could probably use it after that."

She smiled back at him. "Sure," she replied. "Let's go."


	10. Freeze

Author's note: Hey. ravengal reporting for duty.

Just to be clear, that business with the Ominous Wind two chapters ago was a tribute to one of the most annoying things about the Mystery Dungeon game. I can't possibly count the number of times that my Staraptor died from two consecutive Ominous Winds. Grr. Curse those flying bugs.

Also, the chapter title is a song by Jordin Sparks. Honestly, I'm starting to give up on them being perfect. This one is good enough. :)

**Chapter Ten: Freeze**

Pikachu stared at the bush in front of him, which was covered in a type of berry that he'd never considered tasting before. The Buneary, who was standing next to him, had been the one to point out this bush on their way back from chasing the Pachirisu around all afternoon. After resting for a while, she'd convinced him to come back here and try some.

He plucked what he knew to be called a Figy berry off the bush and sniffed at it. He recoiled as he picked up the familiar – and very much disliked – spicy smell.

"What's wrong, Pikachu?" the Buneary asked worriedly.

_Crud..._ he thought, _I don't wanna upset her. After all, she went to great lengths to convince me to eat these things._ He bit into it and chewed, flinching at the disgusting taste that was now burning his mouth.

"Don't you like it?" The Buneary's tone was meek and unsure, which really stabbed at his heart. "What's wrong with it?"

He forced a smile and shook his head at her before swallowing the vile berry. He was just about to say that everything was fine when the forest started spinning in front of him. Dropping his berry, he wobbled unsteadily on his feet, wondering what on Earth was going on and willing the world to stop spinning.

_Whoa... feels like... I'm caught in a Twister attack... Whee..._

Three Buneary in front of him covered their mouths with their paws. "Pikachu!" they all shrieked. "Are you alright? What's going on?"

_Huh... three Buneary... Who knew Bun was a triplet? Hehhh... Hmm, I wonder what was __**in**__ that Figy berry..._ He collapsed to the ground, watching as the trees above him swayed and danced around each other. _Pretty..._

"Oh no, you're confused! Um... um... cure for confusion, cure for confusion... Oh, I don't know! Here, try this!" She shoved something into his mouth.

Dazedly, he began to chew it. Upon swallowing, he felt his vision return. He blinked and slowly sat up, then shook his head. "Whoa..."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah... yeah, I'm fine."

The Buneary sighed in relief. "Good. I'm glad that piece of Persim berry _worked_." She paused. He took that time to stand up. "Pikachu?"

"Hmm?"

"I thought... I thought Figy berries only confused you if... you didn't like spicy food."

He couldn't help blushing as he sheepishly threw his paw behind his head. "Aheh... oh, really? Well... what do you know?" _Oh, crud... busted..._

The Buneary bashfully hid behind her fluffy fur. "You don't like spicy food, do you?"

He lowered his paw and stared at the ground. "No... I don't..."

There was a long pause, then she pulled her fur over her face. "I'm so sorry! I had no idea! First the Cheri berries and now... Oh, I'm so sorry!"

He sighed, reaching out and patting her shoulder. "It's okay. I should've told you sooner anyway."

She lowered her fur to peer over the top of it. "I'm awful."

He shook his head, giving a tired smile. "No, _I'm_ awful."

The Buneary paused, then shuffled her feet. "I promise I won't make you eat anything you don't like ever again."

Pikachu widened his smile. "Oh, don't worry about it." He paused. "What about _you_? Is there anything _you_ don't like?"

She shook her head. "Nope. I like _all_ berries."

He smiled again. "Oh, that's good. Now, come on... let's gather some Persim berries for dinner, okay?"

The Buneary dropped her fur and beamed. "Okay!"

* * *

Buneary smiled happily as she and the Pikachu walked side-by-side back to the burrow, each set of arms full of delicious Persim berries. Honestly, she was still feeling guilty over the whole spicy berry thing, but simply seeing the Pikachu smile was enough to make _her_ smile.

Her trail of thought suddenly landed on the Pachirisu that they'd played tag with that afternoon and a question entered her mind. "Say, Pikachu?" she asked.

"Yeah?" the Pikachu replied.

"Why _did_ Pachirisu call you 'big bro', anyway? He wasn't _really_ your little brother, was he?" _'Cause that would mean that 'big sis' would also be __**his**__ sister..._ she thought,_ and not a potential mate..._

The Pikachu chuckled. "Nah. For some reason, he's always seen me as his big brother... and _he's_ kinda like a little brother to _me_, you know?"

"Oh..." So, not only was 'Pachi Big' interested in him, but 'Pachi Small' saw him as a big brother? That was depressing.

The Pikachu suddenly stopped in his tracks. "Wait."

She stopped beside him. "What's-?"

She didn't even have to finish, for she heard and smelled exactly the reason why he'd told her to wait. She glanced off to the side, only to see a female Persian emerging from behind a nearby tree. Buneary froze in terror.

"Hmm..." the Persian said, "you must be pretty good to have noticed me, little mouse. I'm impressed."

"What do you want?" the Pikachu asked.

The Persian continued to prowl around them in a circle. Buneary felt like she was being caged in and it was terrifying her. "What else? A mouse and a rabbit have come wandering into my territory. I can't possibly pass up such a good meal."

Buneary's heart skipped a beat. _She... she doesn't just want __**me**__?_ she thought._ She wants him __**too**__?_ The very thought made her mouth run dry.

"Mom!" a voice called out before a male Meowth skidded onto the scene. "I told you I wanted to get back at the _Rattata_! These two don't matter to me!"

"Be quiet!" she yelled back, batting him away with her front paw. He rolled a few feet away. "I have no interest in your little revenge plan. Why would I go seeking out _one_ Rattata when I have two tasty morsels right here?"

_It's him..._ Buneary thought, still too shocked to either speak or move, _the Meowth from a few days ago..._

"But, Mom!" the Meowth whined as he climbed to his feet. "I nearly had him! Just give me one more chance and I'll-"

"I said be quiet!" the Persian snarled. The Meowth winced in response. "You had your chance and blew it. You're still as pitifully weak as you've _ever_ been. Leave this to the professionals."

The Meowth whimpered as he slunk behind a tree. "Mom..."

The Pikachu moved until he was standing in front of Buneary. "Get behind me, Buneary," he said.

She nodded, knowing not to argue. "Okay," she replied.

"So..." the Persian said as she stopped to face the Pikachu, "you wanna go first, mouse?"

The Pikachu threw his pile of Persim berries to one side and took on a battle stance. "Here's the deal, cat..." he said, "you fight _me_. Leave Buneary alone."

She purred in response. "Well, I'll certainly fight you first, if that's what you want. Once I kill _you_, though, I'm going after _her_ next."

"You won't be getting that far. Buneary, hop behind a tree and wait for me there."

Buneary wanted to help, but, since she knew that she couldn't, she had to agree. "Alright," she replied. "Be careful, Pikachu!" She quickly threw her own pile of Persim berries to one side and hopped behind the nearest tree. She peered around the side of it, keen to watch the inevitable battle.

"Alright. You ready to roll?" the Persian asked, crouching into a battle stance.

"As ready as I'll ever be," the Pikachu replied.

The Persian smirked, then opened her mouth. "Water Pulse!" A ball of water formed in front of her mouth before shooting towards the Pikachu.

The Pikachu dodged out of the way just in time, then powered up electricity in his cheeks. "Thundeeeerboooolt!" The electricity shot towards the Persian.

She quickly jumped out of the way and the attack electrocuted her son instead. After screaming in agony, he collapsed on the floor. His mother simply jumped around the Pikachu and opened her mouth again. "Again, Water Pulse!"

Another ball of water formed before hitting the Pikachu in the back and soaking him. He tumbled forwards in a roll, then quickly pushed himself to his feet and faced the Persian. Water was dripping from his yellow fur, but he was otherwise okay.

He landed on all four paws and charged at the Persian. "Quick-Quick-Quick Attack!"

He slammed straight into her stomach, causing her to double over in pain. A moment later, though, a ghostly paw formed over the top of her real one. "Shadow Claw!" She slammed it down onto the Pikachu's head.

Buneary flinched as she watched her beloved Pikachu crash to the ground, the impact kicking up a small amount of dust. He coughed once, then charged up his electricity again. "Thundeeeerboooolt!"

The Persian screamed in pain. Buneary was about to cheer for his victory when another ghostly claw appeared over the Persian's real claw. "Shadow Claw _again_!" She swung at the Pikachu, batting him across the forest and far away from her.

"Pikachu!" Buneary yelled in distress. _No..._ she thought, _stay calm... He can handle himself..._

"Power Gem!"

A yellow ball of light formed in front of the Persian's mouth, growing steadily every moment, before propelling itself towards the Pikachu. It pelted him with such force that he screamed.

Buneary felt herself tearing up. _No... no... he's supposed to have beaten her by now... Come on, Pikachu! Get up! You can do it!_

The Pikachu gritted his teeth and slowly forced himself onto his four paws. Once again, he powered up electricity. "Thundeeeerb-"

"Dig!" the Persian yelled, quickly digging herself under the earth and disappearing from sight.

"Oh no..." Buneary whimpered. This was _very_ bad news. Not only was this attack very hard to dodge, but, being a ground-type move, it was super effective against electric types.

"Go, Mom!" the Meowth cheered from behind his tree.

"Watch out, Pikachu!"

"A... Agility!" the Pikachu yelled, climbing to his feet and running around the area as fast as he could. Up and down he ran, making hairpin turns whenever there was a tree in the way, in a desperate attempt to avoid the Persian.

Soon, she burst out from the ground, ploughing straight into him and sending him flying. He hit the ground and skidded several feet, rolling and rolling before coming to a stop. He lay still far too long for Buneary's liking.

"_Pikachu_!"

She was about to hurry over to help him, but the Persian beat her to it, rushing over to the fallen electric mouse. Once she stopped, she smirked, rolling him back and forth with one paw.

"Pitiful little mouse," she sneered.

"Qu..." the Pikachu said, rolling to his feet and wincing, "Quick Attack!" He leapt into the air, striking the Persian square in the chest.

She skidded backwards, snarling at him. He, however, looked completely spent as he collapsed to the floor again.

Buneary jumped out from behind her tree, her heart thudding painfully in her chest. No, this couldn't be happening! Not to her beloved Pikachu! She tried to move towards him, to help him, to stop that evil Persian from finishing him off... but she couldn't move. The thought horrified her, but she was completely frozen with fear.

_No, no, no! Come on, legs, __**move**__! Pikachu!_

The Persian sneered. "Had enough now, mouse?" she asked. "Well, I guess it's time to finish you off."

_Noooooo!_ Tears streaked down Buneary's face, but, no matter how much she tried, her legs simply refused to move. _**Pikachuuuuuu**__!_

"Prepare to die!" The Persian bared her fangs, which hungrily dripped with saliva.

_He's gonna die! He's gonna die! No! Please don't let this be real! __**Please don't let this be real**__!_

The Persian, mouth open wide, didn't move from where she was standing. Buneary stood and watched, expecting the worst to happen, but the predator never budged an inch. Suddenly, she spotted a flicker of electricity crackling around the Persian's body and idly wondered what it was.

"Wha... What's going on? Why can't I move?"

A low chuckle came from the Pikachu as he very slowly dragged himself to his feet. Buneary felt beyond relieved at the sight. "Looks like my ability kicked in at just the right time," he said.

"Mom?" the Meowth asked.

"_Ability_?" the Persian screeched.

"Yeah..." the Pikachu replied, wincing whilst smirking, "a lovely little thing called Static."

The Persian snarled, wriggling her body around in a desperate attempt to regain mobility. "Curse you!"

"Darn..." the Meowth said, sounding amazed, "I guess that means Mom's ability is Technician... not Limber..."

Pikachu ignored him, still focused on the Persian. "Sorry, lady," he said, "but you're not going _anywhere_." He took a deep breath, composing himself, before his cheeks started sparking again. "Thundeeeer..." The Persian continued to struggle, trying so hard to break free of her paralysis, but nothing happened. The electricity around Pikachu grew as he stood on his hind legs. He clenched his fists and let the power fly. "_Boooolt_!"

The shriek that the Persian emitted upon electrocution likely could have been heard all across Eterna Forest. The more the attack continued, the louder her scream became. Eventually came the inevitable explosion, sending her flying across the horizon and far out of sight.

"Mom!" the Meowth cried out, running off in the direction that his mother had gone.

Pikachu smiled, wobbling on the spot for a few moments before collapsing to the ground, looking far too tired to get back up again.

Buneary gasped in the breath that she hadn't realised she'd been holding. "Pikachu!" she yelled, hopping to his side as fast as she could move.

* * *

Pikachu slowly cracked his eyes open, groaning at the instant sensation of aching all over his body. What on Earth had happened? He glanced around his surroundings, not able to move very much, thanks to the aching. Where was he? It was vaguely familiar, but he couldn't quite place it.

"Pikachu?" a meek voice asked.

His ears perked up as he recognised the voice. "Buneary?" he replied, trying to roll over. He flinched; okay, maybe that wasn't such a good idea.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah... yeah... I just ache everywhere. What happened?"

There was a pause. "Well, you fought that Persian, remember? She managed to hurt you pretty badly, but you beat her."

He blinked, the memories suddenly flooding back. "Oh yeah..." He flopped back down onto what he now recognised as his nest. "Man, she sure gave me a run for my money."

"I got you a couple of Oran berries. Here."

An Oran berry suddenly landed in front of his face. "Oh, thanks." He reached out towards it, grabbed it and slowly pulled it towards him. Taking a bite out of it, he idly wondered how he could have been so stupid as to almost get both him _and_ the Buneary eaten that day. He just hoped that he didn't encounter any more predators that were as strong as that Persian was.

* * *

Buneary felt immensely guilty as she stared at the dirt ceiling above her, the Pikachu breathing in a slow rhythmic pattern of sleep beside her. She'd failed him; she'd completely failed the one Pokemon that she currently cared most about in the world. It made her feel like scum.

Why hadn't she been able to help him? Why had she frozen at the most crucial time, as though she too had been paralysed? He'd almost died at the hands of that Persian... and she'd done nothing but stand there and cry.

She'd been so scared... so scared because she'd already _known_ that she'd have stood no chance. Heck, the Persian had beaten _the Pikachu_ to a pulp. If _she'd_ intervened, she'd have been dead straight away.

The guilt continued to gnaw away at her gut nonetheless. She was weak... pathetic... and useless. What good was she to him if she didn't even have the guts to _try_ to save him? Even if it would have been futile, at least she would have _tried_.

This was the last straw. She'd had enough; it wasn't just _her_ that she needed to protect now, it was _him_ too. Scowling in determination at the ceiling, she decided that now was the time to do something about it. She climbed out of the nest and carefully manoeuvred her way around the Pikachu, making sure not to wake him. Once outside, she stared into the dark distance and focused.

_Okay..._ she thought, _how do I go about this? Just __**how**__ do I start training?_

She had no idea, honestly, so she decided to simply start by thrusting punches at thin air. She did this for a while, being careful not to make any noise to wake the Pikachu. After she didn't know how long, her arms began to ache, but she stubbornly pressed on, even adding to the exercise by hopping up and down. She continued well into the night.

* * *

Pikachu stretched his muscles and yawned, feeling very refreshed after both the Oran berries _and_ the great nap. Rubbing his eyes clean, he looked outside of his burrow. Ah, it looked like another beautifully sunny morning today; the perfect weather for his usual routine. Cheerfully, he turned to the Buneary, about to ask if she was ready to head down to the lake, but paused when he saw that she was still fast asleep.

He heaved a sigh; wow, this looked like the same predicament from the other day. Oh well... it looked like he'd have to wake her up again.

He gently poked her. "Hey, Buneary?" he asked.

"Nruh..." Buneary grunted, tucking her legs under her and snuggling into the nest.

Pikachu tilted his head at her, finding her behaviour rather odd. He poked her again. "Buneary."

"Nruh." She scrunched up her face.

He frowned, utterly perplexed, then poked her again. "Buneary!"

"Nruh!" She angrily swatted his paw away.

Pulling back his neglected paw, he felt really shocked by this action. Had the Buneary just tried to slap him? He watched silently as she pulled up a piece of the nest and covered her face with it, snuggling further into the makeshift bed.

Pikachu's ears drooped in confusion; just what the heck was up with her today? Did she not get much sleep? He had no idea that she was this grumpy in a morning.

Sighing, he lay back down. _Oh well..._ he thought, _may as well wait for her to wake up then..._


	11. Life Is A Game

Author's note: Howdy! No, I've not given up on this fic. You must be joking! Ha. Never. There is still so much to be written.

Also, there is a point to these characters having 'the' in front of their names, when thought about by each other. That shall eventually be addressed. Just thought I'd let you know.

Lastly, the chapter title is a song by Loft. I have no idea why I continue to do the song title thing. Lol. It's a bit of a challenge, I guess.

**Chapter Eleven: Life Is A Game**

Buneary couldn't be more embarrassed about her behaviour that morning; she'd actually hit her beloved Pikachu! She deserved to be kicked out and fed to that mother Ninetales for that! Apologising for the thirtieth time, she still didn't feel like she'd done it enough, despite how the Pikachu was waving her off.

"I told you, it's fine, Buneary," he said with a tired smile, as he dried off his fur.

"No, it's _not_ fine!" she replied frantically, her face still lit up in a blush from earlier. "I'm really sorry... I'll never do it again. I promise!"

The Pikachu sighed. "It's alright. You were tired and grumpy. I can understand that. Now, stop worrying, okay?"

More embarrassed than ever, she shrunk into herself, fiddling her paws. "I'm sorry..."

The Pikachu walked over and patted her on the shoulder. "Don't worry! It doesn't matter..."

Finally, she gave in. She was never one to resist his charms, anyway. "... Okay..."

There was an awkward pause, with the Pikachu retracting his paw. Buneary stared at her foot, as it shuffled around on the grass.

"So... Buneary..."

She glanced up at him. "Hmm?"

"Why _were_ you so tired, anyway? Did you not sleep well last night?"

Her blush deepened. She wasn't quite ready to tell him the exact reason for her morning crankiness yet; she wanted to improve a bit first, to both impress and help him. "Um... no, not really..."

"Aww, that's a shame. Do you need more sleep? We can go back to the burrow, if you want."

She giggled; he was so cute when he was being thoughtful! "No, I'm fine. Let's go gather some berries for breakfast!"

He eyed her warily. "You sure?"

She nodded. "Of course!" She began walking away. "Come on!"

"Hey, wait up!" He shuffled over to her and began to walk alongside her.

* * *

Pikachu had decided that, today, he felt like having Oran berries for breakfast, so he and the Buneary were busy gathering them up to take back to the burrow.

Honestly, he was starting to crave meat. It had been a while now, since he'd last eaten an invertebrate, and an omnivore like him needed meat alongside the fruit in his diet. However, he was still wary of the Buneary's feelings on the matter of Pokemon consumption. There was no way he was leaving her alone to go off and eat something, just as there was no way he could bring something back to the burrow and eat it in front of her. If only she was strong enough to defend herself, he could satisfy his craving...

He shook his head of such selfish thoughts; no, if the Buneary couldn't defend herself, then it was his job to protect her. That was just the way things were, so there was no use complaining about it.

He turned, with a smile, to ask the Buneary if she'd collected her berries yet, when he paused at the sight of something rather peculiar; there she was, a pile of Oran berries at her feet, while she hopped up and down and punched at thin air, a look of intense concentration on her face.

He blinked, unsure what to make of this odd behaviour; he'd certainly never seen her do _that_ before, so what was going on? It wasn't as if it was part of her morning ritual, or anything. He knew that she was already pretty weird, but this was strange, even for her.

He walked over to her. "Buneary?" he asked.

She jumped in shock, coming to a stop and spinning to face him. "P-Pikachu!" she cried.

He tilted his head in confusion at her. "What are you doing?"

"What am I-? Oh!" She blushed, then glanced down and fidgeted with the fluffy fur around her waist. "Um... well..."

"Is it a new morning workout, or something?"

"Um... yeah, I... I guess you could say that..."

He straightened his head and beamed at her, feeling rather proud of her. "Oh, cool! Well, good for _you_! Keep up the good work, okay?"

She nodded meekly in reply. "Okay..."

"Now, come on. Grab your Oran berries and let's find a good spot to eat breakfast."

* * *

Buneary bit into another Oran berry, feeling determined to cram as much training into each and every day as possible. No more loafing around; she was going to toughen herself up if it killed her. The Pikachu would be so impressed with her progress that he'd declare her able to take care of herself, allowing her longer periods of time alone and, eventually, he'd announce her strong enough to leave his burrow!

She paused mid-chew, horrified at her train of thought; okay, maybe that wouldn't be such a good thing, after all. She re-evaluated the situation, as she continued chewing. Okay, so the Pikachu would be so impressed with her progress that he'd allow her to fight alongside him, so that _he_ could protect _her_ and _she_ could protect _him_! Then he'd fall madly in love with her, ask her to be his mate and they'd live happily ever after, creating a new clan of Pichu, Pikachu and Buneary! She blushed happily and giggled; yes, _that_ was the kind of ending she wanted.

"You okay, Buneary?" the Pikachu asked.

She jolted for the second time that morning and looked over at him, slightly embarrassed. "Oh, uh..." she replied. She swallowed the food in her mouth. "Yeah, I'm fine, Pikachu!"

"You sure? You seemed to be giggling to yourself." He took a bite of his Oran berry.

"Oh!" She giggled harder, hiding her face behind her half-eaten berry. "No, I'm fine! It's nothing!"

There was a pause, where she could hear the Pikachu chewing, then the noise stopped. "Well, if you say so." She heard him take another bite and continue chewing.

Buneary sighed, willing her heart to calm down. It would always beat so erratically fast if the Pikachu so much as _spoke_ to her. She always ended up looking like a fool in front of him, too... She couldn't help it, though! He was just so... so... amazing.

She lowered the berry and took a good look at her knight in shining armour, the Pokemon that she adored so much, and contemplated other reasons for his greatness. Well, his body was certainly very well toned; it was rather muscular, as though he'd spent his whole life battling and exercising... then there was his yellow fur, which was rather shiny and well groomed. He obviously led a very healthy lifestyle. Lastly, she looked at his face, which lit up with an adorable smile, as he swallowed his food. She beamed at him; he really was perfect.

He glanced back at her. "Something wrong, Buneary?"

She squealed in embarrassment, hiding her face behind her berry again. "It's nothing!"

"Right... okay..."

* * *

Pikachu had gotten the weirdest feeling earlier, like the Buneary had been staring at him for no apparent reason. As much as he liked the girl, he feared that he'd never understand her. She'd said that nothing was wrong, but he'd gotten the impression that she'd been deep in thought about _something_... Well, maybe it wasn't his business to pry, anyway. He'd learned his lesson well enough the last time.

He glanced around the forest. "I spy," he said, "with my little eye... something beginning with... 's'!" He turned back to the Buneary with a smile on his face, only to pause; she was doing that weird exercise again. "Buneary?"

She stopped and turned to him. "Hmm?" she asked.

He chuckled awkwardly, really not sure what to make of it all. "Exercising again?"

She blushed. "Oh! Um... sorry... What did you say you spied, again?"

"Something beginning with 's'."

"Oh, okay." She glanced around, one paw resting on her chin. "Um... 's'... 's'... Sun?"

"Nope."

"Oh... Um... sky?"

Pikachu grinned. "Nope."

"Um... sunbeams?"

He laughed at her unique answer. "Nope."

"Um..." She glanced into the trees. "Starly!"

"Correct!"

She hopped up and down, both paws underneath her chin. "Yay!"

"Okay, your turn."

She stopped hopping and lowered her paws. "Hmm..." She glanced around again. "I spy, with my little eye... something beginning with... 'l'!"

"Hmm..." Pikachu glanced around. 'Lake?"

"Nope!"

"Um... light?"

The Buneary giggled. "Nope!"

"Um... uh..." He looked back at her. "Argh, I give up."

She pointed to his tail. "Lightning bolt!"

He blinked, then chuckled. "Oh, ha ha."

"Wanna tell jokes, now?"

"Sure. You go first. Best joke wins, like usual."

"Okay! Hmm, let's see... Oh, I got one! Did you hear about the blind human who went bungee-jumping?"

"No."

"He loved it, but it scared the heck out of his Growlithe!"

Pikachu laughed. "Good one. Okay, my turn! Hmm... Oh, I know! A pair of Ambipom had twin Aipom, but couldn't keep them... so, one was given to a pair of Infernape and was named 'Amal'... and the other was given to a pair of Primeape and was named 'Juan'."

The Buneary was focusing all of her attention on him. "Uh huh..."

"Years later, Juan went back to meet his Ambipom parents... and the mother Ambipom said that she'd like to meet Amal, too."

"Uh huh..."

"But the father Ambipom said to her, 'Honey, they're twins. If you've seen Juan, you've seen Amal'."

The Buneary blinked at him, then burst out laughing. "Oh, that was great! You win!"

Pikachu felt his chest swell with pride. "Thanks!"

After a few moments, the Buneary calmed down again. "Speaking of which... if humans were supposed to have evolved from Ambipom, Infernape and Primeape, why do we _still_ have Ambipom, Infernape and Primeape?"

Pikachu blinked at her, then sniggered. "Hey, you've got a good point, there. Maybe, when Mew created humans, she realised she made a mistake?"

The Buneary giggled into her paws. "Maybe."

* * *

Pikachu was having yet another lovely afternoon with the Buneary; it was so nice to have someone to tell jokes and play games with every day. He wasn't sure he ever wanted it to end.

Currently, the two of them were playing hide-and-seek. As per the rules, he was holding his breath, so as not to pick up her scent and end the game too quickly. Hopefully, nothing would harm her while she was out of his sight. There was another rule, which stated that she had to run straight back to him if anything attacked her, but he still worried about her safety. However, he couldn't simply shelter her all day and night; she needed some time alone every so often.

Exhaling through his mouth, then inhaling again and holding his breath, he couldn't help but think how dangerous this game actually was; what if something attacked him, while his sense of smell was dulled? Not that he'd _allow_ anything to hurt him, of course. Anything that tried to would be flattened in an instant. It was still a slightly worrying thought, though.

Shaking off the anxiety, he looked around for his target. Honestly, it wasn't all that easy, looking for brown fur against brown tree bark, so his eyes scanned the area for the cream-coloured fur on her waist, ear-tips and feet.

"'Sup?" a voice asked.

He looked to the side of him, to see a male Starly land on the ground next to him. Although he couldn't currently smell him, he knew that he was male from the large semi-circle on his forehead. He also had a strange feeling that it was the same Starly that he'd targeted in his game of I-Spy earlier.

He puffed out the air in his mouth. "Sorry, can't talk right now," he replied. "I'm playing hide-and-seek."

"Ohhh, with that cute rabbit from earlier?"

Pikachu nodded. "That's right." It suddenly dawned on him that he was probably talking to the offspring of a pair of Staraptor. He quickly started scanning the sky for any sign of them.

"You looking for my folks?" The Starly chuckled. "Don't worry, they won't be back for a while. They've gone to get me some food!"

This didn't make Pikachu feel any better. He looked back at the Starly and chuckled uneasily. "Ah..."

"Anyway, your bunny friend is over there, see?" He pointed a wing.

Pikachu looked in the direction the Starly was pointing and saw a large tree. Squinting at it, he could just make out a small brown and cream figure behind it, hopping up and down.

"Uh... thanks... though this _does_ count as cheating, you know."

The Starly chuckled again. "My bad."

There was a flapping of small wings and Pikachu turned to see that the Starly had taken off and flown away. He turned back to the figure that he assumed was the Buneary, perplexed as to why she was still exercising. She had to be pretty determined to accomplish _something_, that was for sure; this was the third time today that he'd seen her doing this.

Cautiously, he walked over to the tree and around it, coming to a stop behind her. He watched silently, as she continued hopping up and down, punching at thin air. Just what on Earth was she doing, anyway? And, for that, matter, what on Earth was it doing it _for_? It would make more sense if they were warm-up exercises, but she never seemed to be warming up for anything.

"Found you."

Buneary shrieked, spinning around in mid-air and landing on her backside. She blinked at him and blushed. "Pikachu!" she cried.

He was beginning to think that what she was doing was embarrassing. Why else would she react that way every single time he caught her at it?

He nervously scratched the back of his head. "Aheh..."

"S-Sorry..." She stared at her paws, as she fidgeted them. "Guess you found me... G-Good work!"

He sighed, lowering his paw. "Well, technically, a Starly ratted you out, so it doesn't really count."

"Oh..."

He looked at her, deciding that he'd ask her later about what the heck was going on. She was obviously keeping him in the dark about something, if she was going to freak out every time he saw her exercising. Maybe she was just surprised? She always looked so focused on the exercising that she could simply not have heard him coming. Perhaps it was both.

* * *

Buneary sat next to the Pikachu in his burrow, the two of them munching on their dinner of Persim berries, and contemplated her training over the course of the day. Honestly, she had no idea if she was improving or not, considering that she had no idea what she was doing. Not to mention, she'd been so focused on the training each time that the Pikachu had scared the living daylights out of her when he'd spoken to her. Not only did he keep scaring her, but he kept catching her in the act of bettering herself, for _his_ sake! How embarrassing.

"Say, Buneary?" the Pikachu asked.

She turned to him, swallowing the food in her mouth. "Yeah, Pikachu?" she replied.

"I wanted to ask about the exercising you were doing today."

She tensed. "Uh huh?"

"Well..." He glanced down at his berry, then looked back up at her. "Is everything okay? I mean, this exercising seemed to come out of _nowhere_..."

She looked down and fidgeted with her half-eaten berry, feeling rather embarrassed; not only was he going in for the kill with his questioning, but he was calling her training 'exercising'.

"Well..."

"I mean... it's not like there's anything _wrong_ with what you're doing... I just wondered why you're doing it so randomly."

"Um..."

"You did it while we were getting breakfast, you did it while we were playing I-Spy... and you did it again while we were playing hide-and-seek."

"I... guess they weren't really the times to be doing that, were they?"

"Not really, although I'm not complaining."

Buneary sat in silence for a few moments, pondering what to say. She eventually decided on the truth. She sighed. "I was... training."

"... Training?"

She couldn't bring herself to look at him anymore, she was so embarrassed. "I was... trying to get stronger..." She waited for him to speak, but he said nothing. "I decided I need to toughen myself up... to protect myself... and to protect _you_..."

"... Protect _me_?"

She looked up at him and noticed that he seemed to be staring at her in awe. She blushed, her ears drooping slightly. Would she ever stop feeling embarrassed today?

"Yeah... After... after that last fight..." Her throat tightened at the mere memory. "I realised I needed to help protect you, as much as _you_ protect _me_... so I'm trying to train, to get stronger..."

"Buneary..." He paused. "Was that why you were so tired this morning? Were you training in the night?"

"Uh huh..." A silence followed, with the Pikachu continuing to stare at her. _Oh, this is so awkward!_ she thought, wanting to look away, but unable to.

Eventually, he smiled brightly. "Well, thanks, Buneary... I really appreciate that." She brightened up at his kind words. He grinned awkwardly. "But, if that's really what you wanted to do... then you're kinda going about it the wrong way."

Her face fell, her ears also drooping. _Oh no... I've been doing it __**wrong**__? Figures. I really __**am**__ useless..._

"Hey, don't look so down..." He paused for thought, then smiled. "Hey... I have a fair bit of experience in battling... How about I _help_ you train?"

Her ears rose again, as her heart pounded happily. "_Really_?" Her face lit up in a huge grin. "You'll help me _train_?"

He nodded. "Sure! I'd be happy to. We can start _tomorrow_, if you like."

She squealed in delight, throwing her berry to one side and lunging at him. Almost sprawled across the nest, she enveloped him in a hug. "Oh, thank you, thank you, _thank you_!"

"... Sure... no problem..."

Buneary grinned to herself, as she snuggled into his fur. _Look out, world! I'm gonna be strong before you know it!_


	12. Eye Of The Tiger

Author's note: Well, what can I say? This chapter begins the segment that will flip the plotline on its head. :P All of you who guessed it would happen, congratulations! I hope you enjoy it.

Even though we're into Unova now, this story will stay Sinnoh-related to avoid confusion.

Also... this chapter ended up being much longer than I thought it would, so the second half of the training shall be in the next chapter!

Lastly, the chapter title is a well-known song by Survivor. Thanks go to VGS2 for giving me the idea for that. Lol.

**Chapter Twelve: Eye Of The Tiger**

Pikachu slowly cracked his eyes open, being careful of the morning sun, before noticing that the sky was slightly darker than usual. That probably meant it was going to rain either today or tomorrow. Closing his eyes again, he stretched his muscles, groaning at the pleasant sensation of his senses all waking up. Yawning, he sat up in his nest and rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

"Oh!" the Buneary's voice said. "Morning, Pikachu!"

"Hmm?" he replied, looking to the side of him. There was his roommate, sitting nearby and leaning on the dirt wall with a huge smile on her face. He smiled back, still rubbing at one of his eyes. "Morning, Buneary."

"Are you still gonna train me today?"

Pikachu paused, pondering her statement, then realised what he'd offered to do the previous evening. "Oh! Yeah, sure!"_ She must be pretty keen, then..._ he thought, _since she was up so early._

The Buneary blushed in happiness. "Yay!"

Watching her reaction to the news, he suddenly remembered her behaviour yesterday; she'd leapt at him and given him a... hug. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been hugged. It had felt so weird and freaky and intrusive, yet so... nice.

He shook it off and smiled. "Okay, so how about we head to the lake?"

The Buneary jumped to her feet. "Okay!"

"We can get ourselves cleaned up, have some breakfast... Um, how soon do you wanna _start_ your training?"

She paused to think it over. "Um... well... as soon as possible, I guess?"

He nodded. "Okay. Well, I was thinking about it last night and came up with a decent enough training schedule. Let's go!"

"Yay!"

* * *

Buneary was really excited to be starting her training, especially since it was special training that would be given to her by the Pikachu. No longer would she have to figure out how to do it by herself, as _he_ would be helping her every step of the way.

For the first time in her life, she was willing to throw a hundred and ten percent into her training. After all, it was all for him. Also, since he was training her, she'd have yet another thing to pay him back for. She'd make sure to do her best... nay, _better_ than her best... and prove to him just how much she was truly worth.

The Pikachu chuckled. "Buneary, slow down!" he said. "You're gonna choke."

Buneary paused in the rabid devouring of her breakfast. "Shorry..." she mumbled around a mouthful. Swallowing it, she coughed for a moment.

"You okay?"

"Yup! Never better!"

She devoured another few mouthfuls, keen to eat this pile of Magost berries as fast as Pokemonly possible. She wanted to get straight into training, so she was barely tasting the mixture of bitterness and sweetness that would normally make her cringe.

The Pikachu chuckled again, sounding more nervous this time. "Buneary..."

"Shorry, shorry..."

She swallowed, forcing herself to eat slower. In all honesty, though, she was feeling very jittery. Her excitement was causing her heart to pound at an abnormal rate, which was usually a bad mixture with her quirky nature. Her sister had often laughed good-naturedly at her, calling her a ticking Voltorb that was set to go off at any minute.

"Make sure to eat slowly, okay? We don't want you getting indigestion or anything."

"... Okay..."

* * *

Pikachu stopped in what he thought was a good spot, checking right and left at the surroundings. Well, there was good cover around, so that would definitely keep any flying types away. He inhaled deeply, fine-tuning both his nostrils and ears, in an attempt to check for anything lurking nearby. He found nothing threatening, so he turned with a smile to the Buneary. He paused when he noticed that she was hopping up and down with the same huge grin from that morning on her face.

He blinked to stop the staring. "Well, this looks like a good spot," he said. "Wanna get started?"

"Yep!" the Buneary replied. "I'm ready! Bring it on! Let's go, let's go, let's go!"

He gave an exasperated smile. _My, she's really enthusiastic about this..._ he thought. He suddenly paused, remembering something about the previous night. _Wait... didn't she say she wanted to protect me? What was __**that**__ all about?_ An image of the Persian knocking him to the ground entered his mind. He flinched. _I guess I __**was**__ pretty sloppy the other day. I can't afford to let that happen again._

"So?" He snapped out of his trance and looked at the Buneary, who was still hopping. "Are we gonna train?"

He placed the smile back on his face. "Well, I think we should start with some stretches, then do some warm-up exercises. We can do the proper training later."

She stopped hopping, the smile slipping from her face. "Aww... we're not training?"

The sad look she was giving him was killing him. He tried to keep smiling, but it was difficult. "Hey, hey... I just figured it might be better if we warmed up first." He stared down at his foot and scuffed it on the grass. "Is that okay?" He glanced up at her face.

She blinked at him for a few moments, then smiled. "Sure! We can do that!"

He smiled back at her, grateful that she'd given his idea a chance. "Thanks, Buneary."

She blushed, then pulled up the fur around her waist and started giggling behind it. "No... problem!"

Taken aback, he stared. When this continued a few moments longer, he sighed; she was just as weird as ever.

"Okay, let's start by doing some stretches for a bit, okay?"

She promptly dropped her fur and nodded eagerly. "Okay!"

"Alright... now... um... let's try this." He lifted his left arm and leaned far to the right, stretching to and fro in a swaying motion.

The Buneary mimicked him, looking almost like his reflection. "Like this?"

"Good! Now, the other side." He switched sides, leaning to the left while stretching his right arm. Again, the Buneary mimicked him. "Alright, now, try this." He righted himself and swung his arms around his body, twisting his torso to the right.

"Okay."

"... Now, the other side." Again, he switched sides, twisting his torso to the left.

"Okay."

He righted himself. "Alright, now for the legs." He leaned heavily on his left foot and stretched out his right leg, leaning it on the heel. "Work out all the tension."

"This is kinda fun."

"... Okay, now switch." Switching legs, he began stretching out his left leg. He glanced up at the Buneary and saw that she was doing exactly the same, except still mirroring him. He smiled, vaguely amused by the sight. "Doing great, Buneary!"

She looked up at him and smiled. "Thanks!"

* * *

A while later, after repeating the sequence of stretches a few times, Pikachu was ready to move onto the next step. He stood before the Buneary, who looked more relaxed now, but still very excited. At least she wasn't jittery anymore.

"Okay, you ready for the next phase?" he asked.

"You bet!" the Buneary replied.

"Alright, well... I got this idea from _you_, actually."

She blinked. "Me?"

He nodded. "Yup. Your antics yesterday? I called them exercises, remember?"

"Oh... yeah..."

"So, I thought, 'How about I _make_ them exercises?' What you're gonna do is the exact same as yesterday. Jump up and down and punch at thin air. Also do some kicks and ear-punches, while you're at it. This can be your warm-up exercise."

"... Well, okay."

She began hopping up and down, then slowly started punching, all the while glancing nervously at him.

He smiled brighter to encourage her. "That's it! Punch harder and faster!" He put on a determined expression and started jumping up and down. "Like this!" He swung his fists one after another at thin air.

She frowned in determination. "Okay!" Speeding up her punches, she began packing a lot more power into them. "Like this?"

"Yeah, like that!"

"Got it!"

He continued this rhythm with her for a short while, then came to a stop when he knew that only _she_ could continue. "Alright, now do some kicks!"

"Okay!"

He really wished that _he_ could use his legs in a fight, but the truth of the matter was that his body was just too blobby. There was far too much body weight resting on such tiny feet, but Buneary didn't have that problem.

After each hop, she swung out one of her feet, switching on the next hop. This continued for a short while, all while Pikachu watched in intrigue.

_Our first session's going pretty well,_ he thought.

"How... am I... doing?"

"Great, Buneary! Now for the ears!"

She stopped kicking, only to start punching with her ears, one after the other, and never once slowed her rhythm of hopping. Pikachu also wished that he could use his ears to fight, like _she_ could, but all his ears were good for was listening out for predators. In hindsight, though, he supposed that such a thing wasn't all that bad.

"Like... this?"

"That's great! Keep it up!" He watched as she picked up the pace. "Eye of the Raikou, Buneary. Eye of the Raikou."

* * *

Buneary had been exhausted after her morning workout, so she'd been very happy to spend a couple of hours relaxing by the lakeside, drinking plenty of water and snacking on Bluk berries. While enjoying their mixed dry and sweet flavour, she'd noticed that the Pikachu had managed to get its black juice smeared all around his mouth. She'd laughed at the sight before pointing it out to him. When he'd pointed out that she'd also had it smeared around _her_ mouth, however, the two of them had cracked up laughing, pointing at each other's faces.

Now that she was well rested, the Pikachu was leading her towards his burrow, where he'd told her that the real training would begin. She couldn't stop grinning at the thought.

"Alright, then," the Pikachu said, stopping in the area outside the burrow and turning to face her. She also stopped. "Now to start the training."

"Yay!" she cheered.

He nervously scratched the back of his head, which she thought was very cute. "Now, then, uh... I've never actually... trained anybody before, so this'll be a new experience for me..."

"I'm sure you'll be great, Pikachu!"

"Thanks. I hope so. I'm used to training _myself_, not anybody else..." He lowered his arm and looked thoughtful. "And I guess I have to start from scratch, which I've never had to do before."

Her ears drooped and her smile fell. "Yeah... I'm... not very experienced at _all_..."

He snapped to attention at the sight of her face, instantly smiling. "Oh, don't worry! I'm sure you'll get it in no time!" He put on a determined expression. "Now, how about we get started?"

She found him so sweet that she couldn't help but smile again. She nodded. "Okay!"

"Alright... well, I gave this a lot of thought last night, before I went to sleep... and I came up with a pretty good training schedule. Here's the idea. Every battler needs to hone the four basic skills: power, accuracy, speed and endurance. Falling behind in any one of these areas is bad news... especially for a prey Pokemon. We're gonna start your training with power."

She nodded, utterly captivated by his amazing speech. "Kay."

"But, first, how many moves do you know? Just so I know how many we're working with."

"... Just Dizzy Punch..."

"Okay, we can work with that." He moved, so that his legs were further apart, then laid his arms by his sides. "Now, I want you to attack me."

This comment caught her off-guard. "What?"

"Attack me." He held out his arms. "As hard as you can with your Dizzy Punch. I won't move from this spot, so just hit me until I'm knocked out."

Buneary was horrified. "_A-Attack_ you? I can't do _that_!"

"Aww, come on. There's nothing to worry about. I'm a tough guy. I can handle it. Besides, you can't possibly reach your full potential, unless you practice at your hardest."

She cringed; she really didn't want to hurt her beloved Pikachu, but she knew that he was right. Gulping, she walked over to him and tentatively swung one of her ears at him. It tapped him lightly on the chin.

She stared up at him. "Um..."

He blinked back at her. "Buneary?"

She cringed again. "Ohhh..." She yanked her fur up over her face. "I can't hit you! Please don't make me hit you!"

* * *

Pikachu sighed as he watched the Buneary hide behind her fur. While he appreciated the fact that she didn't want to hurt him, he knew that she'd never get _anywhere_ if she didn't take his advice seriously. She needed to attack him at full power, on a regular basis, if she was ever going to improve.

Suddenly, he had an idea. He didn't particularly like this idea, though, and wanted to use it even less. However, he doubted there were many other options. Not to mention he _was_ getting a little frustrated with her. However, he was afraid of the effect his idea would have on her. After debating the matter in his head for a while, he eventually decided to give it a try. He could always apologise later.

He put on a irritated face and looked away. "I see... so _that's_ how it is." He glanced at her from the corner of his eye and noticed that she was peeking over her fur at him. "I should've figured you wouldn't be able to handle this. I'm sorry I bothered."

She dropped her fur, looking at him with confusion. "Pikachu?"

He huffed in what he hoped was an arrogant way. "You're weak and pathetic, Buneary... and you always _will_ be." He turned to her, forcing his mouth into a smirk. "Go back home to your clan... if you don't get eaten on the way there." He felt a stab through his heart when he saw tears in her eyes, but fought to keep up his little act. He held out his arms again. "Unless you can prove to me, right here and now, that you've got what it takes."

The Buneary sobbed, tears rolling down her cheeks, and Pikachu's smirk almost slipped. He wanted to stop his goading and comfort her, but he knew that doing that would be counter-productive. Instead, he waited for the inevitable explosion.

"Pikachu... you... you... _jerk_!"

She lunged at him, ears extended, and he knew right away that immense pain was to follow. This being his plan all along, he didn't move. After a moment, one of her ears connected with his face, knocking him to the right. Arceus, it felt like a Hitmonchan was punching him! Without hesitation, the other ear swung around and gave him an uppercut to the chin. His feet momentarily left the ground. Once they landed again, more Dizzy Punches rained down all over his body. He felt pain on his face, his chest, his stomach and both of his sides. Just like he'd thought, she was utterly furious with him.

Finally, one last Dizzy Punch hit him square in the face and he toppled over backwards, landing painfully on his back. He blinked, watching the trees above him dance and sway like a group of Kirlia.

"Whoa... pretty dancing trees..." The Buneary's wailing caught his attention. He sat up and looked around for her, but the forest was still spinning around him. "Buneary?" He twisted his body to look behind him and saw her there, sitting on the grass and crying into her paws. He slowly climbed to his feet and stumbled over to her. "Hey, Buneary?" He leaned over, trying to put a paw on her shoulder. "I just wanted to say-" He fell flat on his face, straight through the Buneary. "Oh... you learned Acid Armour? Good job!" He paused, staring at the grass. "Wait, does that even _work_ on grass? Ehhhh, I dunno..."

He rolled onto his back, staring back up at the dancing trees, the Buneary's wailing still the only sound nearby. He blinked a few times, eventually dispelling the confusion. Once it was gone, he shot up into a sitting position, now facing where the Buneary actually was. Just like his illusion earlier, she was sitting on the grass and crying into her paws. His ears drooped as low as they would go at the sight; _he'd_ caused that. It was all for a good cause, but he'd still upset her... and a lot, by the sound of it.

She looked up at him, tears still rolling down her face. "Pi... Pikachu..."

His heart was twisting itself into very painful knots now. He could even feel tears stinging his eyes. He furiously rubbed them away. "Buneary?" He stood up and slowly walked towards her. She tensed and he didn't blame her for doing so. Finally, he stopped beside her. "I'm really sorry I had to do that. Everything I said... I didn't mean it."

She sniffled. "Huh?"

"You're not weak... you're not pathetic... and you _do_ have what it takes. I only said all that stuff, 'cause it was the only way for you to not hold back."

"R... Really?"

He smiled, though his ears were still stuck in their drooped position. "Yeah. You see... you can't _afford_ to hold back. You need to train at your full power. Imagine what would happen if you held back against a predator."

She made a hiccupping noise. "I... I guess..."

"I promise I won't ever say such horrible things again, if _you_ promise that you won't hold back against me." He held out a paw. "Deal?" She stared at it. "I guarantee I can take whatever you throw at me. I'm an experienced battler... and, heck, I even _enjoy_ getting the stuffing pummeled out of me! As long as it's by a friend and not a predator. I _like_ challenges." She continued to stare at his paw. He sighed and retracted it. "I know I don't deserve your forgiveness for what I said, but I _am_ really sorry..."

She slowly climbed to her feet, still sniffling. "I... You..." She hiccupped again. "I didn't know what had happened! I wondered where... the Pikachu I knew went... How... how do I know that wasn't the _real_ you?"

He looked down at the grass, utterly ashamed. "It wasn't. I swear on... on anything you like... that wasn't the real me. I'd _never_ say such things _normally_." He looked back up at her and put a paw on his heart. "_This_ is the real me. I swear to Arceus."

"... O-Okay..."

He attempted to smile at her. "So, what do you say? Have we got a deal?"

"Huh?"

He held out his paw again. "If _I_ promise never to speak to you like that again, _you_ promise never to hold back in training."

She paused for a moment, looking down at his paw. Ever-so slowly, she raised her own paw, grabbed his and shook it. Looking up at him, she smiled through her tears. "Deal."


	13. Gonna Fly Now

Author's note: Hiya! Gee, I've got so many fics to update. XP It's hard to keep up.

Anyway, the chapter title is the famous Rocky theme by Bill Conti. It makes a good continuation of Eye Of The Tiger, does it not? :P

**Chapter Thirteen: Gonna Fly Now**

Buneary splashed more cold water from the lake onto her face. Well, at least she'd stopped crying now and her face was no longer sticky and salty, but she still couldn't stop thinking about what had happened earlier outside the burrow.

Staring at her reflection, she recalled how the Pikachu had treated her. Granted, she _now_ understood that he'd done it all for a good cause, but, at the time, it had felt as though he'd ripped her heart from her chest, crushed it in his paws and tossed it to one side. She'd thought that, maybe, her fairytale had all been a lie. As he'd spoken those cruel and hateful words to her, she'd seen the face of the alpha Lopunny shadowed behind him, mirroring his every word and action. It had scared her to think that the Pikachu might truly have been like _him_.

She turned away from the lake and looked over at the yellow mouse in question. He was watching her with a concerned expression on his face.

"You okay?" he asked.

She couldn't bring herself to speak to him, somehow. It just felt painfully awkward. She nodded. "Yeah," she replied.

He glanced away from her, shuffling his foot on the grass. "That's good..."

"Mmm..."

Silence followed the short conversation. Obviously, he was still feeling guilty about earlier, but she was still feeling unsure about him. Everything she thought she knew, she had ended up questioning. That mindset was proving a bit hard to break.

"Um... you wanna... quit for the day, or...?"

She searched her heart. On the one hand, she could call it a day and take a rest. She _was_ emotionally exhausted, after all. On the other hand, she could push her feelings aside and continue the training. It would help her get stronger faster, not to mention give her something other than the current situation to focus on.

She took a deep breath, calming herself. "No, let's continue the training."

He looked up at her. "You sure?"

She took another moment to consider the options, then nodded. This was definitely what she wanted. "Yeah."

"... Well, okay, then." He scratched the back of his neck and looked away again. "Let's, uh... go back to the burrow, I guess..."

"Sure."

* * *

Pikachu stopped outside his burrow and turned to face the Buneary. He could see by her face that she was still apprehensive around him, but he couldn't really blame her. He'd pushed way too hard earlier, good intentions or not. He'd gone too far and still felt awful about it, but, hopefully, he'd achieved what he'd aimed to do.

"Alright, well..." he said, unsure how to continue. Did she really want to go through that again?

"Hmm?" she asked, looking at him expectantly.

He avoided her eyes and fiddled his fingers. "Well, I was gonna suggest trying the power thing again, but..." He glanced up at her.

She said nothing for a few moments, then took a deep breath and straightened up. "Okay. Let's do it, then."

He lifted his head to fully look at her. "You sure?"

She closed her eyes and nodded. "Yeah. You were right before. I need to fight at my full power if I'm gonna get any stronger..." She opened her eyes. "So I'm ready to try it again."

He stared at her in awe for a moment. She was certainly getting _mentally_ stronger. Maybe it was only a matter of time before she got _physically_ stronger, too. She _had_ managed to hit him pretty hard earlier, so it was far from impossible.

He smiled. "Okay, then!"

She stared at him, then blushed slightly and smiled. Apparently, the Buneary he knew and liked was still in there. That was good. He liked the strong-minded Buneary, but he was glad that the sweet one hadn't gone away just yet. It would have been his own fault if she had and that thought didn't sit well with him.

"So, um... shall we start, Pikachu?"

"Huh?" He blinked, suddenly realising that they'd been in silence for slightly too long. "Oh, sure!" He moved his legs further apart and held out his arms. "Whenever you're ready. Hit me with everything you've got!"

She nodded, getting into a fighting stance and readying her ears to give him another beating. Hopefully, this time, she wouldn't hit him _quite_ as hard. Pokemon did tend to be much stronger when angry, after all, what with the adrenaline fuelling their attacks and all.

* * *

Buneary really didn't want to hit the Pikachu, as he meant an awful lot to her, but she also didn't want a repeat of earlier. She had to prove to him that she was strong, as well as trust that he could handle whatever pain she dealt him. She'd try not to go easy for his sake, but she couldn't help worrying a little.

"Alright," she said, "here I come!" She launched herself at him, tensing her ear muscles as she hopped closer. "Dizzy Punch!"

When she felt her ear connect with the Pikachu's body, she clenched her eyes shut, willing herself not to look as she pounded him over and over again. She feared that, if she saw what she was doing, she would stop. She couldn't afford to hold back a second time.

Once she felt she'd hit him enough times, she jumped back and slowly cracked one of her eyes open. What she saw made her eyes snap all the way open in shock; the Pikachu was lying on his back, staring up at the sky. After a moment, he pushed himself into a sitting position, looking slightly pained but otherwise okay.

"Good job, Buneary!"

"I'm sorry, Pikachu..."

"Hey, it's okay." He grunted as he pushed himself to his feet. "That was a good effort. You didn't seem to hold back that time."

She looked at her foot as it shuffled on the grass. "I tried not to..."

"Well, that's good! You're making progress _already_!"

She looked up at him and smiled, unable to keep the slight blush off her face. "Thanks."

He dusted himself off. "So! You wanna move onto the _next_ stage?"

She blinked once, before suddenly remembering that there was more to the training. "Oh! Okay, sure."

"Alright. Now, we'll work on your accuracy." He started pacing up and down in front of his burrow. "I want you to do the same thing again, except, this time, I'll be a moving target."

"... Okay... but... you're moving kinda slow, aren't you?"

"Yeah. I figured it'd be better to start off slow and work our way up. I don't wanna put you through too much too quickly."

A jolt of self-consciousness hit her, but she tried to shake it away. The Pikachu wasn't pointing out that she was useless; he was merely being thoughtful. She had to remember that.

"Kay."

"Alright, now come at me with another full-power Dizzy Punch."

She got into another battling position, again tensing her ears. She hopped towards him. "Dizzy Punch!"

The first hit missed by an inch, but the second landed on the Pikachu's arm. The third caused her to lose her balance slightly when he moved out of the way. He was walking at the pace of a Slugma and, yet, she was having trouble hitting on-target. Growing frustrated with herself, she swung her ear really hard and almost knocked his teeth out. She shrieked and jumped backwards, her paws over her mouth in horror.

The Pikachu stopped pacing and rubbed at his jaw. "Ow..."

"I'm so sorry! Are you okay? I didn't mean to do that! Oh, I'm so sorry!"

"I'sh okay." He let go and smiled sheepishly at her. "Nothing's broken."

Buneary lowered her paws and sighed. "I'm sorry..."

"Hey, don't worry about it! It just means you're improving a bit. Besides, like I told you before, I can handle a little pain! I trust you won't try to eat me if you manage to knock me out."

Despite the situation, she couldn't help but giggle at that. "Yeah, I wouldn't do that."

He beamed, walking towards her. "Of course you wouldn't." He reached out a finger and lightly poked her chest. "Miss Herbivore."

The gentle physical contact made her blush. It had almost felt like the touch of a mate. She grabbed the fur around her waist and threw it over her face, giggling madly. The slightest thing from this Pikachu could send her into fits of girlish giggles. She'd never been this way before meeting him.

She heard a small sigh, so she decided to lower her fur. She was greeting by the sight of the Pikachu looking amused, yet exasperated.

"So, um... what's the _next_ part of the training?"

The Pikachu perked up again. "Glad you asked! The next thing to work on is speed!"

"Speed?"

"Yep!" He paused, then looked at her uncertainly. "Um... this one's gonna require... well... _me_ attacking _you_..."

She widened her eyes, horrified. He would have to _attack_ her? But he'd kill her! "A-Attack me?"

He waved his paws around frantically. "Not at full power, of course!" He lowered them again. "I don't think you're, um... quite ready for a full-power Thunderbolt yet... so I was thinking of using the weakest attacks I have on you, instead... and working my way up from there. Once you've mastered handling the weaker ones, we can move onto stronger ones."

She felt significantly calmer now. "Oh... well, that's okay, then, I guess."

He smiled. "I'm gonna start off with my absolute weakest attack and you have to dodge out of the way, okay?"

"O-Okay." To say that she was nervous would be a slight understatement, but she was willing to give it a try if it meant getting stronger. "So, what move is that?"

He suddenly looked smug. "Tackle."

"Oh." She paused a moment before realising something. "Wait... Tackle? But... I didn't know Pikachu could _learn_ Tackle."

His smirk widened. "They can't."

She was confused now. "Huh? But..."

His expression melted back into a smile. "Normally, Pikachu shouldn't be able to learn Tackle, but I managed to. I also know Leer, which I _also_ shouldn't be able to learn."

She stared in awe at him. He truly was amazing. "Wow..."

He paused, then sheepishly threw a paw behind his head. "Well, sort of, anyway. It's not all that powerful, but it works... kinda..."

She blinked, then giggled. "Well, that's better than nothing."

"Heh, yeah, I guess so... Okay!" He got on all fours. "I'm gonna use Tackle and _you're_ gonna try and keep out of the way. Wanna give it a try?"

She readied herself. "Sure thing!"

"Kay, here I come! Tackle attack!" He ran towards her.

She hopped over him, landing back on the ground. Before she could turn around, though, she felt him collide with her back. Grunting in pain, she fell forward and rolled. She came to a stop against the burrow, looking at the Pikachu upside down.

"Ugh..."

"Sorry. Are you okay? I didn't hit you too hard, did I?"

"No..." She rolled her body away from the burrow and tumbled into a sitting position. Standing up, she turned to face him. "I'm okay."

"Yeah? You wanna keep going?"

She nodded. "Yep." She readied herself again.

"Okay. Tackle attack!" He ran towards her.

She leapt over him again. When she landed on her feet, she quickly spun around and managed to leap over him as he ran at her again. This continued a few times, until she began to get cocky. Yeah, she could do this! She was much better at dodging than she'd thought. When he charged at her, she leapt over him and attempted a somersault to impress him. However, she miscalculated and ended up skidding face-first along the grass.

"Ow..."

"You okay, Buneary?"

She climbed to her feet and turned to face him. "Yep. Let's keep going!"

He gave her an unsure look, but nodded anyway. "Tackle attack!" He ran towards her again.

This time, she decided to jump to the side. This worked, until he chose to turn around and charge at her again. She only just dodged out of the way in time, with him clipping her side and causing her to fall over.

"Ugh..."

"You wanna move on?"

She lay on the grass for a few moments, thinking about what to do. Coming to a decision, she sighed and climbed to her feet. "Okay, then. What's next?"

He smiled at her and stood on his hind legs. "Alright, well, the next part of the training is endurance."

She cringed, knowing full well what this would mean. "Oh, okay."

He gave her a sympathetic look. "Well, we don't have to worry about that for now, if you want. We can just keep working on power, accuracy and speed."

She took another calming breath. She knew this would hurt, but it was what she wanted. It was what she needed to do. There was no turning back now.

"No. Let's do this."

He was silent for a moment. "You sure?"

She gave a determined frown and nodded. "Yeah."

He smiled gently at her. "Well, okay." He paused. "I think you know what I'm going to say, don't you?"

"Yeah."

"I'm gonna use an electric attack on you."

She drew a sharp intake of breath. "Uh-huh..."

"... My weakest one is Thundershock, but I don't know how well you'll be able to handle that."

She gritted her teeth and stood up straight, determined to prove that she could be strong. "Guess we'll have to find out."

He looked unsure, but he nodded. "Well, here goes." He lightly clenched his paws into fists and his cheeks began to spark. "You ready?"

"... Yeah."

"Just... try to grit your teeth and bear it, okay? I'll go easy on you."

She nodded. "Okay."

"Thunder... shock!"

Electricity shot from his body and headed straight for her. Her eyes widened in horror as she watched it come closer and closer. She didn't know how much this would hurt and was scared of finding out.

Far too soon for her liking, it hit her. She screamed in agony. Her feet actually left the floor as the power coursed through every vein in her body. It felt about as bad as the Pachirisu's Discharge had felt the day before, even though Discharge was supposed to be the stronger of the two moves.

Eventually, it subsided and she collapsed to the floor, exhausted. How she'd managed to survive that Houndour's Overheat was beyond her, honestly. Maybe he'd just been really weak, because, _Arceus_, the Pikachu's Thundershock was painful.

"Ugh..."

His yellow face appeared above her, looking worried. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah... I think so..."

"Maybe that was too strong. Shall I try making it weaker?"

"... Is that possible?"

He grabbed her paw and pulled her into a sitting position. "I'm sure it _is_." He let go and turned away, charging up electricity. He looked like he was concentrating really hard. "Thunder..." He paused. "Shock."

A tiny sliver of electricity shot from his cheeks and landed a short distance away. She stared at the spot where it had disappeared into the grass.

"Wow."

He turned to smile at her. "Wanna rest for a bit, then try it like _this_?"

"... Okay."

* * *

Pikachu was concerned about the Buneary. Was he pushing her too hard? He always tried to be considerate, but she seemed so determined to go through with this training. She was willing to go through all this pain to get stronger... and protect him. He felt the smallest of lumps in his throat from the thought, but shook it off and swallowed it.

Sitting up in his nest, he looked at her. "Hey, Buneary?" he asked.

"Hmm?" she replied, turning to look back at him.

"You wanna give it a try now?"

She paused. "Okay. Let's go."

"Alright." He stood up and walked outside the burrow. Once he was a decent distance away, he stopped and turned around. As expected, the Buneary was standing opposite him. "You ready?"

She nodded. "Bring it on."

He smiled at her enthusiasm. "Okay." He very lightly clenched his paws, concentrating until he felt just the right amount of electricity build up in his cheeks. "Thunder... shock."

He released it as a tiny spark, which zipped over to the Buneary and hit her. She jumped and yelped, but that was about it. It didn't look too painful, which he was pleased about. He was just about to say something encouraging when he noticed that every bit of cream-coloured fur on her body was standing on end. He sniggered.

"Well, I guess that wasn't too... What's so funny?"

Her confusion only made him laugh louder. He pointed at her. "_You_ handled the attack alright... but I don't think your _fur_ did!"

"Huh?" She looked down at herself, then giggled. "Hey, you're right! I look like a charged-up Mareep!"

The two of them laughed about this for a while, relieving all remaining tension between them. In Pikachu's opinion, their first training session had gone rather well, despite the earlier circumstances. At least he wouldn't have to anger the Buneary into attacking him anymore. He hated to see her upset.

He'd really have to pull out all the stops to help her get stronger, as it was more difficult to hold back than it was to fight at full power, but he was willing to do it for her sake. Heck, maybe it would even be fun. A part of him couldn't wait to see what tomorrow would bring.


	14. Rainy Day

Author's note: Greetings! :) I do hope you're all lagomorphing as hard as I am. This fandom needs more fics, so get writing! Lol.

The chapter title this time is a song by the Plain White T's. Enjoy!

**Chapter Fourteen: Rainy Day**

Buneary slowly drifted into consciousness, vaguely registering a strange pattering noise nearby. She scrunched up her face, still far too sleepy to figure out what it was. Footsteps? No, there were too many of them. Something falling? Possibly. Pitter-patter, pitter-patter. Just what was it? Far too curious, she focused on waking up fully.

Cracking open her eyes, she rolled over in the nest. Immediately, she saw the Pikachu standing by the burrow entrance. This caused her to blink away the remaining grogginess.

"Pikachu?" she asked.

"Hmm?" he replied, turning to face her. He smiled. "Oh, morning, Buneary."

She stretched her muscles, yawning. "Morning, Pikachu."

He suddenly looked sheepish. "Looks like we've got a bit of a problem today."

"Yeah?" She rubbed the sleep from her eyes. "Whassat?"

"Take a look outside."

"Mkay." She dragged herself to her feet and hopped towards the entrance, yawning a second time before coming to a stop and looking outside. Finally, she was able to see what had been causing the noise. She blinked. "It's raining!"

"Yep."

She looked at him. "This'll be a problem?"

He scratched the back of his head. "Kinda. See, it's always bad to train in the rain... and you know what the weather in this forest is like."

She nodded. She knew exactly what it was like, having lived there all her life. Once it started raining, it wouldn't stop all day. "Yeah."

"So I think we should just stay inside today. We'll get back to the training tomorrow."

Her ears drooped. "Oh..."

He lowered his arm and smiled. "Hey, don't worry. You were making great progress yesterday, so we won't fall back too much. You wouldn't wanna catch a cold, _would_ you?"

"... No..."

"Then let's just relax, okay?"

She looked down at the floor, disappointed. "Okay."

"Hey, cheer up. We'll train extra hard tomorrow. How about _that_?"

She looked up at him and smiled shyly. "Sure."

"Alright, well, let's go get a drink and some berries."

She nodded. "Kay."

He glanced outside. "Hmm... I think we're better off not going to the lake today." He looked back at her. "How about we get some water closer to home?"

She smiled wider now, feeling much happier at the prospect of spending the day hanging out with the Pikachu. "Okay!"

* * *

Pikachu walked through the rain, the Buneary walking beside him, to find a decent leaf to drink the rainwater off. He noted, with some irritation, that his fur was soaking wet. He didn't really like having soaking wet fur, unless it was from washing or swimming. Glancing at the Buneary, he noticed that she was smiling.

"You like the rain?" he asked.

"Yep!" she replied. "It's refreshing. I don't like it _too_ heavy, though."

He smiled. "Yeah." Stopping, he turned to the nearby bush and inspected its leaves. They were large, curved and full of water. "Here we go." He reached for the closest one, standing on his tiptoes to grab it, and gently tugged at it with both paws. "This one will do."

"Need any help with that?"

"Nah, I got it." He tugged slightly harder, getting a bit frustrated when it wouldn't budge. "Come on..."

He tugged harder, soon pulling it free. The momentum was too strong, however, so it flew out of his paws and spilled the water all over him. He blinked, stunned, and looked at the Buneary. She was staring in shock at him. After a few moments, she burst out laughing.

"Look at _you!_"

He gave her an exasperated smile. Here he was, feeling like a drowned rat, and she was laughing at him. Typical. After a few moments, he started laughing along with her. In retrospect, he supposed he must have looked pretty funny.

"Okay, okay... help me with a leaf."

"Sure thing."

Selecting another leaf, he stood on his tip-toes and began tugging on it. The Buneary hopped over to the other side and also began tugging. After a moment, it broke free and they gently lowered it, being careful to keep the water inside the leaf.

"Okay, let's go."

"Kay."

* * *

Buneary giggled to herself as she wrung her fluffy fur dry. The Pikachu had looked so hilarious earlier, dripping wet, not to mention incredibly adorable. Her thoughts were cut short as the mouse in question shook himself dry, spraying her with droplets of water. She shrieked in laughter and shielded herself.

"Pikachu!" she cried out.

He smirked at her. "That's for laughing at me earlier."

She pouted playfully. "Meanie."

He chuckled and sat down. She immediately sat beside him, the large water-filled leaf in front of them. Leaning down, she licked at the surface of the small puddle, enjoying the taste of water straight from the clouds, rather than a lake full of water Pokemon. Once she was done, the Pikachu took his turn.

Once he was finished, he licked his lips. "Heh. Hardly any use for a _wash_ now, huh?"

She giggled. "Yeah. The rain took care of that _for_ us."

"Yeah." He picked up a Magost berry. "Ah, well. Breakfast time!" He took a bite and chewed it.

Giggling again, she picked up her own Magost berry. "Yep." She bit into it and cringed, then happily chewed away at it.

* * *

Pikachu felt himself swell with pride as the Buneary laughed at another one of his jokes. It truly seemed like he was good at this. Maybe it was his special talent, besides battling. Glancing outside the burrow, he noticed that it was still raining, though much harder than before. He sighed at the sight of it.

"What's wrong?" the Buneary asked.

"I'm sorry I can't train you today," he replied.

"Oh, don't worry. Like you said, I'd probably catch a cold anyway."

He smiled gratefully at her. "Yeah." He looked back out at the heavy rain. "Wow, it's really coming down hard."

"Yeah, it is."

"Do you think it means Kyogre's happy or sad?"

"Hmm? Oh! Well, I dunno..." He turned to look at her and saw her fidgeting. "I mean, I'm an atheist, so..."

"True. I think he's happy, myself... though he _could_ be crying..."

The Buneary chuckled. "Either that or he's in a sadistic mood."

He chuckled along with her. "Yeah, or that."

"... Hey, Pikachu?"

"Yeah?"

"What do you think all the legendaries' genders are? My... clan always used to debate over that."

"Hmm..." He crossed his arms and looked away thoughtfully. "Well, I don't really know. Only a few Pokemon in the world have even seen _one_ legendary, never mind _all_ of them... though I think Arceus, Giratina, Palkia and Dialga are male."

"Mmm. I think Mew, Celebi, Shaymin and Manaphy are female."

He looked back at her. "Celebi and Manaphy? I always assumed they were both male."

The Buneary tilted her head. "Really? Huh." She straightened her head. "Well, I think Groudon and Kyogre are male. Possibly Rayquaza, too..." She looked at the ceiling thoughtfully. "And Jirachi. Maybe."

"Yeah. I think Mesprit is female, while Azelf and Uxie are male."

"Heatran _could_ be female... and I think Deoxys is male."

"Ho-Oh might be female, too... but I dunno... I do think Lugia's male, though."

"Yeah. Cresselia and Latias are obviously female."

"And Latios is obviously male. I assume Darkrai is, too... and maybe the four Regis."

"Yeah. I think the legendary birds and dogs are male."

"All of them? I always thought Articuno and Suicune were female."

"Yeah? Well, then again, what if they can breed? There might be more than one of each."

"True... and who knows how many _more_ legendaries exist that we've never heard of."

"Mmm."

There was a long pause, then the two of them looked at each other. After a few moments, they both started laughing at their strange and rather pointless conversation.

* * *

Buneary spun faster and faster on one foot, gaining momentum with every spin, until she finally came to a stop and posed with a wink.

The Pikachu clapped. "Nice one, Buneary!" he said. "You kept that one going for a _while_!"

She blushed in happiness and pride. "Thanks, Pikachu!" Walking back over to where he was sitting, she sat beside him.

"Hey, it looks like the rain's easing up slightly."

She checked outside. "Yeah, a little bit. It'll be a while before it stops, though."

"Mmm."

There was a pause, but the silence was comfortable for once. Buneary watched the rain continue to fall, the forest darkened by the night sky, when she suddenly remembered something.

She looked at the Pikachu. "Hey, Pikachu?"

He looked back at her. "Hmm?"

"Remember the day you saved me from the Houndoom and Houndour?"

"Yeah?"

"Well..." She looked at the floor. "There was a moment where you got really angry... It was right after the Houndoom's Hyper Beam started destroying the forest." She looked back up at him and saw that his eyebrows were slightly furrowed and his mouth was slightly twisted. "Pikachu?"

He looked away. "Yeah... I... kinda lost it when I saw him destroying the forest." He paused, then looked up at the ceiling. "This place means a lot to me. I care about everything in it, from the Pokemon to the trees themselves. It... makes me angry when harm comes to anything here."

She stared in awe at him. "Pikachu..."

He turned to smile at her. "Maybe I was a bit harsh on him, though. I mean, he _was_ confused at the time... although there was no excuse for him trying to eat you."

She chuckled. "Nope." She looked back out the burrow at the rain. "I know what you mean, though. This forest may have danger around every corner, but it's my home."

"... Did you ever consider travelling?"

"I've thought about it, but I don't think I'm up for that. I love Eterna Forest. I have a lot of memories here."

"Yeah."

She looked at him and smiled. "I wouldn't change anything that's happened to me for the world."

He stared at her in surprise for a moment, then smiled back. "Aww."

She looked back at the rain and there was another comfortable silence. "Thanks so much for everything."

"Hmm?"

She felt rather embarrassed now. "You saved my life twice, let me live with you in your burrow, protected me from various Pokemon and offered to train me." Her face now burning, she pulled up her fluffy fur and hid behind it. "You're the nicest Pokemon I've ever met."

There was a pause, so she lowered her fur to look at him. She was amazed to see that he was blushing very slightly.

"Wow... um..." He fidgeted. "Thanks, Buneary."

She lowered her fur to beam at him. He was adorable when he was blushing awkwardly. "You're welcome. You deserve all the praise in the world, Pikachu." Stretching out one of her ears, she patted him on the head with it. "You're the coolest and the sweetest. No one can replace you."

He scratched the back of his head sheepishly, another trait she had come to find adorable. "Aww, come on... now you're embarrassing me..."

She pulled back her ear. "But it's true. You don't realise how amazing you really are."

"... Thanks."

"I hope I can, one day, be as strong as you."

He lowered his arm. "Oh, I'm sure you will. I'll be sure to keep training you, until you get there. Heck, you could even end up _stronger_ than me."

She giggled. "Oh, I doubt it. It'd be nice to get strong enough to train with you properly, though."

"Yeah?"

She nodded. "Yeah. Then you wouldn't have to go easy on me anymore and I could be your equal."

"Hmm. Yeah, actually. That _would_ be pretty awesome. We could battle all day long and, maybe, learn from each other. We'd probably make a great team against predators, too."

"Yep!" She smiled sheepishly at him. "Honestly, I've never really liked battling, but you've made me realise that it's something I really need to do... and should have done years ago."

"Well, that's _good_! It's never too late to make yourself stronger... and Pokemon _need_ to be strong in the wild. It's how we survive."

She nodded again. "Mmm-hmm!"

"... So, what were you into _before_, then, if you weren't into battling?"

She looked down and fidgeted. "Well... it was dancing, mostly... though I always loved to pick flowers, too."

"... Flowers, huh?"

"Mmm-hmm. It was all I'd do all day... just pick flowers and dance. They were the two things I enjoyed doing the most."

He chuckled. "Well, that explains why you're so _good_ at dancing, then! You had a lot of practice at it."

Slightly embarrassed, she fiddled with her fluffy fur, trying to decide whether or not she wanted to hide her face behind it. "I guess so."

"I'm good at battling, but awful at dancing. I've never really practiced."

She couldn't help but giggle at that. "Oh, I'm sure you'd be fine with some practice."

"Heh, maybe. The same thing goes for you and battling."

"I hope so."

There was yet another comfortable silence. Buneary didn't mind this, as it made being around the Pikachu feel natural, as though she belonged beside him.

"I'm glad I met you, Buneary."

Her head shot up, a light blush adorning her cheeks. Just after her face had cooled off, too. "Y-You are?"

He nodded. "Yeah. You're good company... and... a great friend." He looked away, watching the rain. "Thanks for sticking around."

She stared at him for a few moments, processing what he'd just said. "P-Pikachu..."

He looked back at her with a warm smile that melted her heart. It caused happy tears to spring to her eyes. He really, truly cared about her. He was no longer 'the Pikachu' to her... but simply 'Pikachu'.

He suddenly looked concerned. "Hey, what's wrong? Did I upset you? I'm sorry. Please don't cry."

She smiled through her tears. "I-I'm not... upset."

She resisted the urge to hug him and, instead, pulled up her fluffy fur and hid behind it, giggling madly.

* * *

Pikachu lay on his back, his arms folded behind his head, as he stared at the ceiling of his burrow. The rain was easing off now and the Buneary was fast asleep beside him, but he was having trouble sleeping. This wasn't because he was troubled, however. Far from it.

He smiled as he listened to the Buneary's gentle breathing. She truly was one in a million, that crazy rabbit. His life had flipped one hundred and eighty degrees since meeting her, but he'd grown to like it. He didn't regret saving her life in the slightest.

Turning his head to look at her, he watched her body move up and down in a rhythmic movement. Nope, he truly didn't regret it. In fact, his life had improved since he'd allowed her to live with him in his small burrow. He'd been right when he'd thought it might be fun having her around.

Looking back at the ceiling, he recalled all the fun times he'd had with her over the last week. The two of them had really been through a lot. It was quite astounding, really, and in such a short amount of time. Well, it wasn't unusual to be attacked by predators every other day, but, somehow, he felt like he'd accomplished much more in that week than he normally would in a month.

He truly felt like he'd bonded with this rabbit. It wasn't like she was one of those friends that he'd occasionally bump into in the forest. This girl was actually living with him; it made all the difference. Sure, she was weird, but she was charming at the same time. He'd really felt at peace since allowing her to live with him. It was nice.

In fact, she was no longer 'the Buneary' to him. It had only been slightly over a week, but he felt ready to think of her as simply 'Buneary'. They were no longer 'sort of friends' anymore, either. They'd bonded enough lately – and especially today – that he could consider her a proper friend.

Rolling onto his side, he closed his eyes, still smiling to himself. He wondered how long she was planning to live in his burrow. Until she got strong enough to take care of herself, perhaps? He'd certainly be sad to see her go, but that was life. You couldn't always get what you wanted. He'd just enjoy her company for as long as it lasted, because they were friends.


	15. Go Either Way

Author's note: Hello. This is an urgent appeal. With your help, we can create more lagomorphs to spread across Fanfiction. Please. All we ask is one fic per person. It's not much. Thank you.

Anyway! This chapter is dedicated to Ash's Pikachu and Dawn's Buneary, who were kind enough to review my fic last chapter. :P

Pikachu, buddy. Look in the mirror. That's who Buneary's talking about.

Anyway, this chapter title is a song by Cord and it's surprising how well the song fits the chapter. :) Rock on, baby.

**Chapter Fifteen: Go Either Way**

Pikachu scratched the itch on his ear, yawning as he did so. His eyes were only half open, but he could see that the Buneary was already standing by the burrow's entrance. She was staring into the distance longingly, where the sky was clear once again. He smiled tiredly at her eagerness to continue training.

He stretched his muscles, then paused halfway through. Oh yeah, she wasn't 'the Buneary' anymore, was she? He'd try to remember that in future. It always took him a while to adjust when thinking of other Pokemon so intimately, almost as though they were family...

Shaking his head and pushing the thought to the back of his mind, he sat up in his nest. The rustling caught the attention of Buneary, who looked over at him.

She smiled. "Morning, Pikachu!" she said.

"Morning, Buneary," he replied, rubbing his eye.

"It's a bit soggy outside, but are we good for training?"

She looked so hopeful, yet so anxious. He nodded. "Yeah, we should be good."

She started hopping up and down in joy. "Yay! Yay! I can't wait!"

He smiled at her, then yawned. "Okay, wanna head to the lake?"

She stopped hopping. "Sure! Let's go!"

* * *

Pikachu emerged through the clearing, seeing the familiar lake in front of him, and trotted happily over to the edge of it.

"Eugh..." Buneary grumbled, brushing droplets of water from her waist fur, "I'm so soggy."

"Mmm..." Pikachu replied, examining his own wet fur around his feet, "it might be a bit dangerous to train today." He looked back up at her. "You could slip."

Buneary dropped her fur, looking shocked. "Oh no..." She put her paws to her mouth. "Please don't say I have to wait _another_ whole day..."

He cringed at the desperation in her eyes. He could see that she really needed, not to mention wanted, this training. He sighed. "Well... as long as you're careful, it might be okay."

She removed her paws from her mouth and beamed. "Yay!"

"Just take it easy, alright?" He turned to the lake. "We don't want you getting hu-" A jet of water suddenly smacked him in the face. Breathing in a few mouthfuls, he began to choke, but the jet subsided fairly quickly. "What the-?"

A very familiar Marill, who was floating on the surface of the lake, giggled. "Hi, Pikachu!" she said.

He rubbed the water off his face and smiled. "Hey, Marill."

The aqua mouse swam up to the edge of the lake and leaned on the embankment. "I haven't seen you in a few days. How are things?"

"Oh, they're good, thanks! I bet you enjoyed the weather yesterday, huh?"

Marill grinned. "You _bet_ I did! There's no days like rainy days! They're the best!" She paused thoughtfully. "It's a real shame I can't have the ability Swift Swim." She grinned again. "I'd have loved to be able to move around really fast in the rain yesterday."

"Your ability's Thick Fat, isn't it?"

She raised her paws and covered her face with them. "Don't say that! It makes me sound really fat! Makes it feel like you're calling me a Wailord..."

Pikachu sighed, smiling tiredly. "Marill, you're not a Wailord. They can't even _know_ Thick Fat."

"I know, but..."

"And it's a _good_ ability, 'cause it lowers ice-type and fire-type attacks!"

"... That aren't very effective against me _anyway_..." She peeked over her paws at him.

He chuckled. "Yeah, but it's still an awesome ability." He turned to Buneary. "Right, Buneary?"

Buneary jumped. "Huh?" she replied. "Oh! Yeah, it is."

"Hmm?" Marill asked. Pikachu looked back at her to see her leaning on the embankment again. "Ah, I see you're still with your little rabbit friend!"

"Aheh, yeah."

"Hmm... I've never seen you hang around another Pokemon so much. Is she your mate?"

Pikachu laughed. "No, no! We're just, uh..." He looked at Buneary, but he noticed that her face was bright red. That wouldn't help him, so he turned back to Marill. "We're living together and-"

"_Living_ together?" Marill slipped backwards and landed flat on her back on the water. She stared at the sky for a moment, then righted herself. "... So, you really _are_ mates?"

"No, no!" Pikachu scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "We're just friends! We're living together, because, uh..." He refrained from mentioning that Buneary was too weak to survive on her own, for the sake of her pride. "I'm training her."

Marill blinked at him. "You're training her?"

"Yep! I helped her out of a sticky situation and, now, I'm helping her defend herself better in the future."

Marill looked down at the ground in front of her. "I see..."

"She's doing really well in her training, too! Granted, we haven't gotten very far yet, but-"

"I need to tell Aipom!"

Pikachu froze mid-sentence. "What?"

Marill smiled. "Aipom will wanna know the news, so I'm gonna go tell her." She waved. "Catch you later, Pikachu!" She dove underwater.

Pikachu stared at the spot where she'd disappeared for a few more moments before slapping a paw to his head. "Oh, crud..."

Buneary hopped over to his side. "Is that bad?"

He lowered his paw. "Well, no... so long as she's kept her word about the Aspear berries _and_ gotten over the _last_ time we saw her..."

"Oh..."

"She's gonna come straight _to_ me when she finds out..." He shook his head. "Ah well. Not much I can do about that." He turned to Buneary and smiled. "Let's get our drinks and food now, shall we?"

Buneary gave a shy smile back and nodded. "Okay."

* * *

Buneary followed Pikachu's stretches exactly as he demonstrated them, working out all the tension in preparation for her training later. It still made her giddy to think that she was no longer thinking of him as 'the Pikachu'. She'd almost slipped up that morning, but she was going to make sure that she didn't do that again. They were legitimate friends now, so she felt that she had earned the right to remove the 'the'.

"Looking good, Buneary!" Pikachu said.

She beamed at him. "Thanks, Pikachu!" she replied.

* * *

Finally, it was time to get back to the training. Buneary couldn't stop grinning to herself as she hopped up and down in excitement. Pikachu was looking anxiously at her, probably expecting her to slip any minute, but she wasn't worried. She'd come out on top today, no matter what!

"Ready to get started, Buneary?" Pikachu asked.

She stopped hopping and put on her game face. "Yup!" she replied. "Let's go!"

He smiled at her. "Alright, then." He walked a short distance away from her, stopped, turned around and held out his arms. "Whenever you're ready."

She gritted her teeth. This again. Well, she had to do it if she wanted to improve. She nodded and extended her ears. "Kay, here I come!"

* * *

Pikachu smiled as he pushed himself up from the grass. Buneary's ears sure could pack a wallop. He knew that she still wasn't strong enough to fend for herself, but he was sure that she'd get there someday, as long as she kept this pace up.

"Nice going!" he said. "Alright, on to the next phase." He began pacing up and down. "Come and get me!"

Buneary nodded. "Kay." She launched herself towards him.

* * *

Pikachu nodded as he stood up again. He was happy that Buneary wasn't holding back anymore. True, his method to get her to do so may have been a bit harsh... okay, _very_ harsh... but the important thing was that it had worked.

"Okay... ready to dodge my Tackle attack?" he asked.

"Yep! Bring it on."

He chuckled, then dropped down to all fours. "Tackle!" He dashed towards her.

* * *

Buneary jumped to one side, only barely dodging in time. Since she knew that Pikachu would be doubling back and attacking again, she spun around, ready. As predicted, he was charging at her again, so, again, she jumped out of the way. Turning once more, she was greeted by him charging, so she jumped away again.

She thought she was doing pretty well, until her feet hit the ground. She could immediately tell that something was wrong, as one foot had no grip and slipped backwards. Unable to stop the inevitable, she shrieked as she fell face-first onto the grass, her body landing on top of her other foot.

"Buneary!" Pikachu yelled. There was a scuffle as he ran closer. "Are you okay?"

She tried moving, but there was a slight ache in her leg. She could tell it was nothing serious, but it would probably handicap her slightly. "Ow..."

"Are you hurt? Oh, Arceus, I knew we shouldn't have trained today..."

She slowly pushed herself up into a sitting position and smiled gently at him. "I'm okay. Just _landed_ funny, that's all."

He sighed in relief. "Oh, that's good."

"So!" an Aipom's voice suddenly said. "What Marill said was true!"

Buneary looked into the nearest tree and saw the owner of the voice. Oh, Arceus, it was _her_, wasn't it?

The Aipom swung herself into position and ran down the tree trunk on all fours, then ran towards them. Once she was close enough, she stopped and stood on two legs. "You have a mate and you're training her!"

"Hey!" Pikachu called out, clearly embarrassed. "I already told Marill, we're not mates!"

The Aipom grinned and elbowed Pikachu. "That's not what _she_ said~!"

Buneary couldn't help blushing again. The thought that other Pokemon considered her to be Pikachu's mate just sent her into a tizzy. The images that popped into her mind were glorious.

"It's not true!"

The Aipom paused and pulled back her arm. "It's not?"

"No!"

Buneary paused and studied the Aipom's face. She looked strangely hopeful. This was worrying.

Suddenly, the Aipom looked at her. "So, why are you living with him, then?"

Buneary's voice got caught in her throat. Actually, there were _two_ reasons, but she wasn't ready to divulge either yet. "W-Well..."

"Sorry I'm late!" a Marill called out. A few moments later, the Marill from earlier stopped beside the Aipom. "Did I miss much?"

"Not really," the Aipom replied. "Just asking why they're living together if they're not mates."

"I already explained that!" an anxious Pikachu replied. "I'm training her."

The Marill tilted her head curiously. "But surely she doesn't have to _live_ with you," she said.

"Well... she..."

Buneary could tell that he was trying to protect her pride. She was grateful for that.

"Yeah!" the Aipom said with a slight frown. "All the time we've known you, you've never wanted _anyone_ in your burrow!"

Buneary blinked in surprise.

"Yeah..." the Marill said uncertainly, "so why is it you've suddenly changed your mind?"

"Well... I..."

This information was new to Buneary. What else didn't she know about Pikachu?

"Well..." a Pachirisu said from nearby, "isn't _this_ interesting?"

Buneary's back stiffened. _She_ was here, _too_?

"_You_..." the Aipom growled, narrowing her eyes.

There were footsteps as the Pachirisu walked closer. Suddenly, they stopped. "Yes. Me."

"What do _you_ want?"

The Marill flinched. "Please..." she whispered.

"What else?" the Pachirisu said. "To see what's going on."

The Aipom took a step forward. "You followed me here, _didn't_ you?" she asked.

Buneary looked at the Pachirisu to see her smirking.

"Maybe I _did_. What _of_ it?"

"This is none of your business!"

"Is that right?" The Pachirisu looked at Pikachu and winked. "Hey there, Pikachu."

A flame of jealousy erupted inside Buneary's chest, but she kept it suppressed. Pikachu, she noticed, was blinking in surprise. She forced herself to look back at the Aipom and Marill.

The Aipom looked furious, whereas the Marill looked upset. Buneary found this distressing. Did these three really like Pikachu after all?

"You leave him alone!" the Aipom yelled.

"And why would you want me to do _that_, hmm?" The Pachirisu's voice was laced with acid.

The Aipom gritted her teeth. "I hope you burn!"

"And I hope you fall off a cloud."

The Marill backed away from the Aipom, shuddering. "Stop it..." she muttered.

"Well, I hope you're tortured for all eternity!"

"Well, I hope you're trapped in limbo."

Buneary was starting to get scared. This could easily turn ugly any second now. Not to mention, she felt really sorry for the poor pacifist Marill, who looked like she was about to cry any moment.

Tears formed at the corners of the Aipom's eyes. "Stop butting into my life, you stupid Giratinic squirrel! I hate you!"

"Well, I don't exactly like _you_ either, Miss Dialkian monkey."

The Marill burst into tears. "Stop it, you two!" she yelled, backing away several steps.

Pikachu stepped forward, in-between the Aipom and the Pachirisu. "Alright, you two..." he said, "that's enough."

Buneary glanced between them, noticing that the two of them were trying to stare each other down. They looked like they were itching to have a battle.

"Tch..." the Pachirisu said, breaking eye contact, "whatever."

The Aipom looked down at the grass, her eyes still shining. "Yeah," she said, "she's not worth it, anyway."

"Why must you two always fight?" Pikachu asked gently. "The whole time I've known you both, you've hated each other."

"Hmph," the Pachirisu replied. "She's a Dialkian, I'm a Giratinist. What more do you need to know?"

"We just don't mix," the Aipom added, turning away.

"That can't be all there is to it..." Pikachu said. "I'm sure not all Dialkians and Giratinists treat each other like this."

No one said anything. The Marill quietly sobbed in the background.

Buneary took a deep breath and stood up. She could still feel the aching, but it wouldn't affect her walking too badly. "Whatever the issue is," she said, "I'm sure it can be resolved, right?"

The Marill stared hopefully at her through her tears.

"Tsk..." the Pachirisu replied, "now we're getting a lecture from the atheist..."

The Aipom turned to look at her, her cheeks stained with tears, but her face defiant. "It's not that simple, Buneary," she said.

"Why's that?" Buneary asked.

The Aipom scowled. "It just _is_!"

"It's best you don't question it," the Pachirisu said. "Just let sleeping Growlithe lie."

"... I may not believe in legendaries..." Buneary said, "but I _do_ believe in second chances."

Silence followed her comment, with the Aipom and Pachirisu looking elsewhere.

"Hey..." Pikachu said with forced cheerfulness, "do you three wanna stay and watch me train Buneary for a bit?"

There was another silence.

"Y-Yeah, that sounds like fun," the Marill replied. "Right, Aipom?"

The Aipom looked up at the Pachirisu carefully. "I guess..." she replied.

Pikachu turned to the Pachirisu. "Um, Pachirisu?" he asked. "You wanna stay, too?"

The Pachirisu looked thoughtful as she stared at the Aipom, then she shrugged. "Sure," she replied. She smirked. "So long as monkey girl behaves herself."

"Ditto," the Aipom said.

Marill gave a croaky chuckle. "_Who's_ a Ditto?" she asked playfully. The other four started chuckling as well.

The rest of the evening was spent in relative peace, with the three females watching Pikachu and Buneary's training session and the religion rivals only bickering a few times. As Buneary continued trying to better herself for Pikachu's sake, and her own, she had to wonder if there was any hope for those two...


	16. Martyr

Author's note: Hidey ho!

Just a quick note before we start the chapter. Since the name 'The Ruined World' has been altered to 'The Distortion World', the Pokemon of this fic (particularly the religious ones) will assume that these are two separate worlds. The Distortion World is where Giratina lives, but The Ruined World is a place he rules over, where bad people and Pokemon go when they die.

... At least, this is what they believe. It may or may not be true.

Lastly, the chapter title is a song by Rusted Root. The lyrics are rather fitting. Enjoy!

**Chapter Sixteen: Martyr**

Buneary hopped up and down on the spot, punching at thin air with a determined frown. It was three days after they had bumped into the Aipom, Marill and Pachirisu for the second time – not counting the time when they'd played tag with the Pachirisu's younger brother – and not much had happened since then. She'd simply been getting on with her training, while Pikachu had watched and offered tips where they'd been needed. It was strange that they hadn't been attacked by any predators during that time, but she just assumed that either they were busy hunting down other prey or the sight of them training was rather off-putting. Personally, she hoped it was the latter.

Not very far away, Pikachu was sitting on the grass with his hands resting on the ground in front of him, smiling as he watched her. She thought he looked awfully cute like that, watching over his diligent student. Then again, he _always_ looked cute.

She would make this Arceus-send of a Pokemon proud of her, no matter what it took. She wouldn't let him feel like all his hard work so far was going to waste. Not a chance in The Ruined World.

Relaxing her arms, she began to kick, once for each foot, on every hop. It was exhausting work, but she was sure it would be worth it in the end. She trusted Pikachu's advice.

"That's it!" he said. "Keep it up, Buneary! You're doing great!"

"Thanks!" she replied, huffing as she said it.

After a while of doing this, she ceased her kicking and started punching with her ears. With any luck, this training would improve her Dizzy Punch. She revelled in the thought of, one day, being able to beat up Pokemon many times her size. Heck, maybe the kicking training would also help her learn a new move of some sort. Just imagining it all was so exciting.

She closed her eyes, imagining herself punching that Persian that had attacked her beloved Pikachu. She couldn't help but scowl at the memory. He'd almost died at the fangs of that beast and she'd done nothing to help him. Welling up with anger – but whether it was anger at the Persian, anger at herself or both, she didn't know – she punched her ears harder and faster with every passing second, imagining the impact on flesh as the Persian screamed in pain.

"Whoa. Buneary, you okay?"

She snapped her eyes open and stared at Pikachu's shocked face. Embarrassment suddenly washed over her and she stopped dead on the grass.

"Um..."

"You seemed to really be getting into that. Something wrong?"

"Oh, um..." On impulse, she grabbed the fluffy fur around her waist and pulled it over her face. She really needed to work on getting rid of this habit. "No, I'm... fine..."

"... You sure?"

"Mmm-hmm..."

"Well, okay, then... just don't strain yourself too much, okay? Getting your anger out is good and all, but you wouldn't wanna pull something." He chuckled. "I know I've done _that_ before."

She peeked at him over her fur. "Okay..."

"Hey, wanna take a break now? We can get down to the real training in a bit."

"... A little longer?"

He blinked. "Huh?"

Buneary blushed. "Can I... do this for a little bit longer? Then we can take a break."

He blinked again. "Oh!" He smiled. "Sure. Go ahead. Just remember to go easy, okay? Your body won't be used to the strain of... um..." He looked away uncomfortably. "Heavy exertion yet." He looked back at her and smiled again. "Okay?"

She felt a stab of guilt at the obvious aversion of her being weak, but she shook it off, let go of her fur and went back to hopping and ear-punching.

* * *

Pikachu lay on the grass in the shade of a large tree, with his arms behind his head, and sighed happily. Ah, he loved moments like this, where he could lie in a cool spot by the beautiful lake and forget his troubles for a while.

He glanced to the side of him at Buneary, then blinked when he saw that she was lying on her side, facing him, with her eyes closed. He chuckled; she must have really tuckered herself out from those warm-up exercises earlier. Well, he wasn't surprised. For a minute or so, she'd seemed possessed, as though she'd been gripped by a sudden anger over something. He had no idea what, though.

He turned back towards the sky, watching impassively as a flock of Spearow flew by. He wondered idly where the Fearow of the clan were. Then again, he knew nothing about the inner workings of Fearow and Spearow clans, so they could be anywhere. Taking a quick glance around, he determined that there were none nearby. No, he'd _know_ if there was a Fearow around. His long ears could hear their cry a mile off. Not to mention, they weren't exactly hard to spot. They were very large birds of prey that could stay airborne for hours, so they could often be found circling the area continuously, on the lookout for food, when hungry. The rest of the time, he supposed they must be flying around elsewhere.

He was just considering closing his eyes for a short while, when he heard a sudden splash. Twisting his head towards the lake, he noticed a Magikarp swimming around. It looked rather grumpy, yet sad at the same time. Pikachu had no idea why, of course, but he pitied the fish Pokemon all the same.

He _would_ talk to it, but it was a bit far away from where he was, so he figured it was best just to leave the... guy... girl... _thing_... alone. Arceus, he hated not knowing the gender of a Pokemon. It made life that little bit more confusing. Shrugging it off, he turned back to staring at the sky. After a few moments, he decided to close his eyes.

All was peaceful for a short while. Pikachu had no idea how long his eyes had been closed before he heard a distant flapping of wings.

_Hmm, that's awfully loud... _he thought, not fully comprehending what was going on.

When he heard the loud cry of a Pidgeot, however, his eyes snapped open and he bolted into a sitting position. Spinning around and looking at the sky, he tried to figure out where the sound had come from. He was instantly answered when there was a loud splash, followed by a screaming Magikarp.

Buneary scrambled awake. "Wha-?" she cried. "What's going on?"

Unable to answer her in his blind panic, Pikachu spun towards the lake and saw a Pidgeot carrying the Magikarp in its talons as it started flying away. The Magikarp was wriggling around frantically, desperately trying to break loose.

"Lemme go!" it screamed. "Lemme go!"

"Hush!" the Pidgeot yelled. "It'll all be over soon."

"Oh, Arceus, no..." Buneary whimpered.

There was another sudden splash and Pikachu looked down at the lake to see a Feebas.

"You let him go!" the Feebas yelled. "IIIIce..." A ball of white light built up in front of its mouth. "Beeeeam!" The white light turned into an ice-cold beam, which shot towards the Pidgeot.

The bird Pokemon easily swerved out of the way, so the Feebas did it again. Again, the Pidgeot dodged with ease. This was repeated several more times.

"Sis!" the Magikarp cried. "Help me!"

Pikachu gritted his teeth as he watched the Feebas continue to miss. _Darn..._ he thought, _that Pidgeot has really good evasion. This is bad... I have to do something!_

"That poor Magikarp!" Buneary cried. "If someone doesn't save it, it's going to... to..."

Pikachu quickly analysed the situation. If he used Thunderbolt on the Pidgeot, he'd shock the Magikarp too. That would _really_ hurt the poor thing. What other option did he have, though? He was too far away from them to do anything else. The Pidgeot was flying over the water! He couldn't exactly run across water!

He shut his eyes shut in remorse. He'd made up his mind. _Sorry, Magikarp..._ he thought. Clenching his fists, he built up electricity in his cheeks, then opened his eyes to scowl at the Pidgeot, which was starting to get away. "Thundeeeer..." He let the electricity fly. "Boooolt!"

The attack flew over the water and chased after the Pidgeot. It didn't seem to notice it until the last moment, when it turned around to see what was behind it. The attack hit both Pokemon, electrocuting them and causing them to scream in agony.

The worst part was, Thunderbolt was strong against both of these types, so the Magikarp was feeling the exact same amount of pain the Pidgeot was. Actually, no, scratch that. When Pikachu thought about it, he realised that the Pidgeot was part normal type, meaning that the pain the Magikarp was feeling was actually worse. Oh, crud.

After a moment, there was an explosion. The Magikarp flew in one direction, spinning many times before coming to a splash at the other end of the lake. The Pidgeot, however, flew in Pikachu's direction and landed in a nearby tree.

"Whoa..." Buneary said.

"Bro!" the Feebas cried, swimming after her brother.

Pikachu ignored the Pidgeot for the moment to stare after the Feebas. Arceus, he hoped the Magikarp was alright. He hadn't meant to hurt him, let alone as much as he _had_. There was nothing else he could have done, though, and he'd certainly not been about to let the Pidgeot get away.

It only occurred to him a few moments later that the Magikarp and Feebas had been the ones to give him and Buneary the underwater tour. Jeez. Now he was even _more_ glad that he'd done what he'd just done. Despite any consequences it may have caused, at least the Magikarp was safe.

Suddenly, there was a cry of rage. It sent a shiver down Pikachu's spine. He immediately spun around to find the source.

Buneary looked terrified. "Wh-What was _that_?"

He heard the loud flapping of wings and a very angry Pidgeot emerged from one of the trees. "_You_!" it yelled.

Buneary yelped in fright, leapt to her feet and jumped behind Pikachu. "Oh, Arceus..."

The Pidgeot flew over to them and landed directly in front of Pikachu. He could instantly tell by the scent that she was female.

"You little rat! You deprived me of my lunch!"

He was afraid of the bird Pokemon, but he wasn't about to show it. He frowned. "You think I'm gonna let you just fly away with a Pokemon when I can stop you?" He struck a fighting pose, knowing that a challenge was inevitable. "Think again, birdie!"

The Pidgeot narrowed her eyes. "Oh, playing the hero, are we? You planning to ride in on your blue Ponyta and save all the Pokemon from their fate?" She spread her wings angrily. "Think again! Every Pokemon you save makes another Pokemon go hungry!"

"Well, find something else to eat, then!"

"I don't think you quite understand the concept of 'carnivore'. No matter. You took away my lunch, so, now, you're going to pay!"

"Bring it on!"

"Yeah, bring it on!" Buneary added from behind him.

"Oh, does your mate want to fight, too?" The Pidgeot gave a battle cry. "Well, that's fine with me!"

"No, Buneary," Pikachu said. "You go hide behind the tree. I'll take care of this."

"No, I wanna _help_!" Buneary replied.

Pikachu shook his head. "You're not strong enough to handle a battle like this yet. Go hide behind the tree."

"But-"

"Go hide behind the tree!" He didn't really want to yell at her, but her safety was on the line here.

"... Okay."

He listened as Buneary hopped away from him and behind the nearest tree. He relaxed a little more at knowing she was safe.

"Hmm," the Pidgeot said, "so she _isn't_ joining the fight. Well, okay, then, whatever. I'll still beat you five ways to summer for messing with my lunch!"

He landed on all fours. "Let's go, then."

* * *

Buneary watched the fight, with great sadness, from behind the tree. Why wouldn't Pikachu let her help? She really wanted to help. She was getting better in her training, wasn't she? She was getting stronger, wasn't she? He'd even said so himself. Why wouldn't he let her fight?

She knew it was probably for her own good, but it still made her feel useless. Arceus, when would this feeling of uselessness ever go away? She hoped to every deity in existence, whether they were real or not, that it _would_. She didn't want to be cursed with it for the rest of her life.

Frowning in annoyance at herself – and slightly at Pikachu, but just slightly – she smacked the tree trunk with her paw. One day, she'd be strong enough to help. Once that day came, there would be no more wishing and no more angsting. She would help, whether the adorable electric mouse liked it or not.

Suddenly, the Pidgeot flapped her wings and lifted off the ground. "It's time little mice knew their place, wouldn't you say?" she said. She then swerved around in a full U-turn and launched herself at Pikachu. "Aerial Ace!"

She smacked straight into him and sent him into a spin. He crashed to the ground and skidded for a few feet.

Buneary's heart skipped a beat in fear. "Pikachu!" she yelled.

Pikachu quickly jumped to his feet and growled, then charged back at the Pidgeot, getting faster and faster the further he ran. "Quick-Quick-Quick Attack!" he shouted, jumping just as he got close and slamming into the Pidgeot's stomach.

The momentum threw them both backwards, the Pidgeot recoiling and Pikachu spinning before landing back on all fours and skidding backwards slightly.

"Little... pest..." the Pidgeot grumbled.

Pikachu shot off once again, this time circling the Pidgeot. "Agility!"

The Pidgeot watched him as he circled her, faster and faster until she seemed to get dizzy. "Argh..."

Pikachu jumped into the air again. "Quick Attack!"

This time, he slammed into her face, barely missing her beak, and flipped onto her head. He then jumped off, somersaulted, landed on the ground on all fours, then turned to face her again.

_He's still as cool as ever..._ Buneary thought in awe.

"Oh, so you're mocking me now?" the Pidgeot growled. "That's it." Her wings suddenly started glowing. "Steel Wing!" She shot towards Pikachu.

He quickly dodged out of the way, but wasn't fast enough to avoid the second attack, which came from behind him. The impact sent him flying to one side, then the Pidgeot attacked him again from the front. Again, he flew to the side and, again, the Pidgeot attacked him while he was still in mid-air. This continued a few more times, with the yellow mouse being batted around like a ragdoll. Buneary couldn't help but cringe at every hit.

Eventually, he was allowed to hit the floor, face-first. The Pidgeot hovered nearby, scowling at him. After a few tense moments – where Buneary almost forgot to breathe – he climbed to his feet and turned to face the Pidgeot.

His cheeks began to spark. "I'm not... going to let you win!" he yelled. "Thunderbooolt!"

Electricity shot from his body towards the Pidgeot, but she easily dodged out of the way. This surprised Buneary. It wasn't often at all that a Pokemon could dodge Thunderbolt. It had apparently surprised Pikachu, too, as he stood frozen in shock for a moment.

"You think you're clever, using that? Well, watch this. Mirroooor..." To Buneary's shock and horror, the Pidgeot starting sparking. "Moooove!" Electricity blasted from her body and hit Pikachu. He yelped in pain, then a small explosion sent him whirling backwards, straight into a tree. There was a sickening bang.

Buneary flinched, tears moistening her eyes. "Pikachu!" she yelled. _Oh, Arceus..._ she thought,_ this is just like when he fought that Houndoom and Houndour..._

Pikachu looked angry as he pushed himself to his feet. "Thunder..." He began sparking.

"I don't think so," the Pidgeot replied. "Mirroooor..." She began sparking again.

"Booolt!"

"Mooove!"

The two streams of electricity crackled in the air before crashing into one another. The volume of the crackling increased with every inch that the ball in the middle grew, until it exploded. Buneary had to shield her eyes from the blast. Once the dust cleared, she could see that Pikachu and the Pidgeot were a bit further apart, but still staring each other down. She lowered her paw.

_What's going to happen __**now**__?_ she wondered.

After a few moments, the Pidgeot moved first. "Aerial Ace!"

In a flash of light, she slammed into Pikachu, sending him bouncing onto his stomach. "Oof!" Pikachu cried. An instant later, she stood on his back, pinning him down with her talon. "Ack!"

"Oh no..." Buneary muttered.

"Why would that Magikarp mean so much to you, anyway?" the Pidgeot asked with a scowl. "You should be concerned about your _own_ safety, not _his_!"

"That's... none of your business..." Pikachu grumbled from underneath the talon.

"Yes, it _is_ my business when you're going to be stealing my food! You know, my preferred meal is fish. I rarely, if ever, eat mice... but, if you're going to insist on being a hero and a thief, then I might just make an exception!"

Buneary had heard enough. "No!" she cried, hopping forward to intervene.

"No, Buneary!" Pikachu called out. She stopped in her tracks. "Stay over there. I got this."

"But-"

An angry look crossed his face. "Stay over there!"

Suddenly feeling two inches tall, she stayed where she was. "Okay..."

His cheeks started sparking again. "Thundeeeer..."

"Oh, I don't think so," the Pidgeot said. "Double Team!" Instantly, there were seven Pidgeot.

The weight on top of Pikachu had apparently disappeared, because he quickly jumped to his feet and looked around at the circle of bird Pokemon. "Tsk..."

"So..." all seven Pidgeot said at once, "which one is real?"

"Tackle!" He launched himself at the nearest one, but fell straight through it. "Tackle!" He launched himself at another, but fell straight through it. He growled in frustration, then closed his eyes.

"Giving up?"

Pikachu's eyes snapped open and he launched himself at another one. "Tackle!"

This time, he hit the Pidgeot, sending her flying backwards and dispersing her clones. She hit the ground, looking shocked. "H-How did you do that?"

His cheeks started sparking again. "I listened to your wings flapping and took a chance. I got lucky. Thunderbooolt!"

This time, the electricity shot out so suddenly that the Pidgeot wasn't able to dodge. It hit her square in the chest and she screamed in pain. Pikachu poured on more and more power, his teeth gritting harder with each new watt added, until there was another explosion. This one successfully sent the Pidgeot flying over the horizon.

"... You... You did it, Pikachu!" Buneary called out. She was still a bit distressed over earlier, but certainly happy that he'd gotten rid of the predator and rescued the Magikarp.

He turned and smiled at her, then stood on his hind legs. "Yeah... eventually."

She hopped over to him. "So, um... wanna grab some berries and sit back by the lake?"

"Yeah, I could probably do with the rest before our training later..." He let out a tired puff of air. "Let's go."

She nodded and smiled. "Kay."


	17. Hypocrite

Author's note: Hallo thar! I'm Dr. Buneary! The world's only Pikachu-loving Buneary! And I'm gonna clobbah that thar Persian for tryin' ta eat him!

... Uh, yeah, hi. XP Random references are go... Not much else to say here.

The chapter title is a song by Cadillac Sky. Many bands have a song with this name, but this one fits the best.

Oh and this chapter does get a tiny bit graphic. Just thought I'd warn you.

**Chapter Seventeen: Hypocrite**

Pikachu stood on his four paws, looking directly at Buneary. It had been a while since his battle with the Pidgeot earlier and they had now returned to their daily training. Something about what the Pidgeot had said was niggling in the back of his mind, but he pushed it away and focused on the task at hand.

"Ready, Buneary?" he asked.

Buneary nodded. "Yup!" she replied.

"Alright, then. Tackle!"

He charged at her across the grass, making sure, as always, to keep his speed fairly low. He sometimes wondered if this was being too condescending. However, he didn't want to overestimate her abilities, either. Too high a speed would cause even more problems than not enough speed.

She jumped out of the way of his attack, so he skidded around and attacked from a different angle. Was he moving too fast? He'd been worrying about that ever since the first time they'd practiced this and he'd knocked her over. He watched as she jumped out of the way again. Well, she was handling things okay, so his speed was probably at a decent level. He certainly wasn't moving his fastest, but he could slow down, if he had to. That probably wouldn't be beneficial, though.

He skidded around and charged again, feeling impressed when she continued to dodge. She was really on the ball lately. If nothing else, the training was certainly improving her reflexes. Hopefully, her confidence, too.

* * *

It was a short while later and Pikachu was standing on his hind legs in front of his burrow. After a successful run with the first three parts of the training, he was all set to continue onto the final part.

"Okay, you ready?" he asked.

"Yep!" Buneary replied.

"Alright." He clenched his fists as lightly as possible. He really didn't want to hurt her, after all. Only on the day she was strong enough to handle it would he even consider going all out. "Thunder... shock."

The tiniest sliver of electricity shot from his body. It was so weak that it was only a few steps up from static electricity. It travelled through the air for a split second, before hitting Buneary. She jumped and yelped, her fluffy fur immediately standing on-end.

"That's never pleasant." She giggled.

He chuckled in return. "Sorry. Kinda has to be done, though."

She smoothed down her fur. "Yeah, I know." She paused. "You know, I bet you could make a game of that with some Pokemon."

"Hmm?"

"They could hold your paw while you give them that tiny shock... and see how long they can last before they have to let go."

He blinked at her, then grinned. "Hey, that's not a bad idea!" He slyly held out his paw. "_You_ wanna give it a try?"

She laughed. "No, thanks. I get my daily dose as it is."

He chuckled again. "True."

"So!" She hopped up and down. "Go again?"

He nodded. "Sure thing!" Lightly clenching his fists again, he repeated the process. "Thunder... shock."

The string of electricity flew across the space and shocked Buneary. Once again, she jumped and yelped.

Suddenly, he heard a flapping of wings. "Crazy way ya got o' trainin' there, dude," a Pidgeotto's voice said.

Pikachu stiffened, whirling in the direction of the voice. The one who had spoken landed in front of him, male by the scent of him. Where the heck had _he_ come from?

Buneary scuffled to hide behind him. He readied a battle stance. "What do _you_ want?"

The Pidgeotto waved a wing. "Chillax, bro. I'm just here 'cause o' my big sis."

"Your big sis?"

"Yeah, the Pidgeot from earlier? She's my big sis." The bottom dropped out of Pikachu's stomach. "That was one heck of a battle. Was watchin' it from that tree over there." He pointed somewhere with his wing, but Pikachu kept his eyes trained on the bird. "Ya sure did a number on her, huh?" He lowered his wing.

"So, are you here to get revenge?" He felt Buneary shuffle closer to him.

The Pidgeotto blinked. "Revenge?" He laughed. "Naw, I ain't here for that, dude. I just wanted to tell ya what a bang-up job ya did."

Pikachu relaxed, but only slightly. "Oh? Well, thanks, I guess..."

"Made sure to check if she was okay before comin' to find ya again. She was fine, o' course. If ya ask _me_, she was _due_ for a bit o' rough-housin'. Been gettin' a bit cocky lately."

"Okay... so, if you're not here for revenge, you must be here to eat us." He tensed up again. "I'm ready when _you_ are."

The Pidgeotto chuckled. "Like I said, chillax. I ain't here for revenge _or_ food. If ya _must_ know, I've already eaten."

Pikachu flinched. "Oh, okay."

"Just wanted to come say 'hi' before headin' home. The missus is busy incubatin' our egg back at the nest, so I gotta be gettin' back soon. My first time bein' a father, ya know."

"Oh, well, um... congratulations."

It felt rather awkward congratulating a predator on his new parenthood. Then again, merely having a friendly chat with him felt awkward in itself.

"Thanks, bro. Scary stuff, bein' a parent... but I can hardly wait 'til the little tyke's born."

"I'll bet."

"So, are _you_ two plannin' a family? It'd be awful cute seeing a load of baby Pichu and Buneary runnin' around here."

Pikachu nervously scratched the back of his head. "Oh, haha... No, no, we're not mates..." He turned to Buneary. "Right, Buneary?"

Buneary's face was bright red. The poor thing was probably really embarrassed by the thought. "Huh?" she asked. "Uh, well, no!" Her paws began to fiddle with the fluffy fur around her waist. "We're not..."

He looked back at the Pidgeotto. "See? We're just friends."

The Pidgeotto blinked. "Huh, is that right?" he asked. "Well, my big sis called ya mates before the fight earlier, but ya never corrected her. I just assumed that meant ya _were_."

He felt the faintest of blushes on his face. "Yeah, well, I was kinda distracted! A Pidgeot was just about to fight me, you know... Priorities and all..."

"Yeah, same here..." Buneary murmured.

The Pidgeotto chuckled and waved a wing in dismissal. "Sure, whatever, dude," he replied.

He sighed, exasperated with the Pokemon of the forest. "Why must everyone think we're mates?"

"Hey, it ain't _my_ fault ya look so cute together. Anyway, I best be headin' off. My mate gets a little cranky if she's left alone with the egg too long. 'It's _your_ responsibility, too!' and all that."

"Okay, sure."

He spread his wings and took to the air. "Well, see ya on the flip-side, dude!" He flew away.

"Yeah... see ya..."

* * *

Buneary watched Pikachu as he plucked another Persim berry from the nearby bush. She'd finally managed to cool down after what the Pidgeotto had said earlier, but she was still on a high. It seemed that every Pokemon they came across assumed they were mates. It was amazing! It was a pity that they actually _weren't_, but hey.

She tried to imagine life as Pikachu's mate, but every image sent her into a tizzy. Gosh, what would her sister say if she ever saw her like this? Well... she most likely wasn't _going_ to, but... She shook her head; now was not the time to be thinking about that.

* * *

The following day was largely uneventful. Buneary spent the day training with Pikachu and the two of them didn't run into any trouble. They didn't even see any of Pikachu's friends. Buneary wondered idly what they were up to. She hadn't seen the Rattata in a while, but he was probably lounging by the lake. The Aipom was probably off arguing with the Pachirisu somewhere. Arceus knows why they hated one another so much, but it wasn't really any of her business. The Marill was probably elsewhere, seeing as she hated conflict.

"Buneary?" Pikachu asked.

She snapped out of her trance. "Huh?" she asked, looking at him.

He chuckled. "You spaced out there for a minute. You okay?"

She beamed. "Of course! Today's been a pretty good day!"

"Yeah, it has." He looked at the sky. "It's been really peaceful... It's always nice to get a day like this."

"Yep!"

He looked back at her. "Well, do you wanna help me carry some berries?"

She blinked. "Huh?" He pointed to the bush of Oran berries next to him. "Oh! Sorry!" She hopped over to help him. He merely chuckled again.

* * *

Pikachu hummed a pleasant melody as he and Buneary each carried a pile of Oran berries towards the burrow. Just as he'd said to the rabbit, it had been a very peaceful day. Their training was going pretty well and he was even considering finding a way to amp it up slightly. He figured that the tiny Thundershock attack he was currently using had run its course and it was time for something slightly stronger. Not _too_ much stronger, of course. Just enough to make some progress, however small it may be. Every little bit counted, after all.

As the two of them rounded a tree, he spotted something sitting in a patch of tall grass. Realising what it was, he froze on the spot, staring intently at it. His eyes widened.

Buneary stopped beside him. "Pikachu?" she asked.

He could barely hear her. In front of him, happily eating the leaves off flowers and completely oblivious to his presence, was a Wurmple. His mouth watered at the sight of it. How long had it been since he'd last eaten one of those? A few weeks, at least, because he'd let the last one go.

Arceus, he was craving it – badly. Every movement it made – every dip of the head, every bite of the leaves, every chew – he followed hungrily with his eyes.

"Wurmple..." he found himself muttering.

"Hmm?" Buneary paused. "... Oh..." She paused again. He heard an awkward shuffling. "You're craving meat, aren't you?"

It took a moment for his brain to process what she'd just said. Once it did, he forced himself to turn away from the Wurmple and face her. "Huh? Oh, well..." His ears drooped. "I know how you feel about that, so..." He steeled himself for his response. "I'm gonna leave it alone..." He immediately glanced back at the Wurmple, then winced, cursing himself for giving in to temptation.

He heard more awkward shuffling. "Well... it _is_ part of your diet and all... so..." She took a deep breath. "If you wanna eat it, go ahead."

He snapped his head back to look at her, shocked. "_Really_?" He mentally kicked himself for sounding so eager. "I mean..."

"No, it's fine..." She looked away. "I just... don't wanna see it, okay? If you're gonna... well... you know... then please do it away from _me_, okay?"

His heart went out to her and he couldn't help feeling guilty. If only he wasn't an omnivore. If only he was an herbivore, like her, then they wouldn't have this problem. "Well... if you're sure..."

She nodded. "Yeah, I am..."

"... Okay, thanks."

"I'll just head back to the burrow, then... I really don't wanna watch."

"Alright. Luckily, it's not too far, so you should be okay. I'll be right behind you."

"Okay..."

He tried to smile. "Hey, tell you what." She looked at him. "I'll give you a special treat to make up for it." Her eyes widened in horror. He quickly realised why. "Oh! No, no, no, not like that!" He returned to his awkward smiling. "I won't make the same mistake twice, I promise!"

She tried to smile back. "Okay. See you later, then."

"Yeah. See you later."

* * *

Pikachu lay on his stomach, slowly pulling himself along the ground with his arms and heading towards the Wurmple. This time, he would not allow it to get away. He'd learned his lesson well enough the last time. If he did the same thing again, he'd probably get the same result, and he really didn't want to have to deal with that again.

Once he got close enough, he could smell that this was a female. Okay, so it wasn't the same Wurmple that had tattled on him the last time, but this one was probably related to him in some way. That wasn't important, though. All that was important was getting this thing for his dinner.

He waited until the Wurmple was looking away from him, obliviously munching on a leaf, then jumped to his feet.

"Quick Attack!" he yelled, dashing forwards and knocking her off her feet.

"Ack!" she cried, spinning around in the air. She landed on her back. "_What the_-?"

A cloud of silvery dust rose up from her body, which he knew from experience was her ability, Shield Dust, activating. It was a little annoying that this prevented him from paralysing any Wurmple he preyed on, but he usually didn't need to paralyse them anyway.

He clenched his fists. "Thundeeeer..." His cheeks started sparking. "Boooolt!"

A bolt of electricity crackled from his body and ploughed into the Wurmple. She screamed in agony for a few moments, then fell unconscious. He immediately ceased his attack and stared at her lifeless body. She wasn't dead yet, but she was soon to be. The poor thing had never even seen it coming. Nor had she even seen who her attacker was.

Walking over to her, he grabbed her tail and started dragging her towards the burrow, all the while wondering how best to eat her without Buneary seeing anything. It'd be tricky, that was for sure.

* * *

Buneary sat nervously in the nest, waiting for Pikachu to bring back his dinner. Maybe she should have stopped him. Maybe she should have told him that eating another Pokemon was wrong. No, it was _his_ life and she had no business interfering with it. She just hoped that the Wurmple hadn't suffered too much.

She heard a shuffling outside and perked up her ears to listen. "Hey, I'm back!" Pikachu called out.

She relaxed her ears. "Oh, hi," she replied.

He walked inside the burrow. "I'll eat my dinner outside, so you won't have to see anything."

She gave a weak smile. "Thanks."

"And here's a little treat to make up for it." He clenched his fists and his cheeks sparked. "Thundeeeer..." She wondered what he was doing. "Shoooock!"

Electricity shot from his body and hit the Oran berries. She jumped in shock. "Eep!"

Once the electricity departed, she could see that the berries had blackened slightly. They also seemed to be giving off a slight sizzling sound. Leaning in closer, she could smell the unusual scent of cooked Oran berries.

"I cooked them for you! It's not often I do that, but I thought you deserved it."

"Wow..." She picked a berry up, then quickly dropped it again when it burned her. "Ouch!"

"Careful, they're hot."

She gathered up a few leaves from the nest in her paws and tried picking it up again. Biting into it, she cautiously chewed it, being careful not to burn her tongue. "Wow... it's so soft..."

"Different, huh?"

She nodded. She'd never eaten berries so hot and tender before. The heat was even dulling the flavour slightly, so she hadn't even cringed when biting into it.

* * *

It was quiet in the nest, with only the sound of chewing coming from both inside and outside the burrow. There'd been some disturbing ripping sounds earlier, but Buneary had covered her ears to avoid hearing it, as she knew what it probably was.

Her curiosity was getting the better of her, though. She knew it was probably a bad idea, but she wanted to see this for herself. The idea of her beloved Pikachu eating a Wurmple was still a bizarre concept in her mind. She also wanted to see if she could, maybe, discover what was so enticing about eating meat.

Putting her half-eaten berry down beside the remaining few, she stood up and quietly walked towards the burrow entrance. Once there, she slowly peered her head around the side.

The scene that greeted her was horrifying. Pikachu was sitting on the grass, happily munching on a piece of Wurmple meat that was in his paws. Blood was all around his mouth and the remains of the carcass lay in front of him. The worst part was, he looked so ludicrously happy, as though he'd been waiting for this day for weeks.

Her stomach churning violently, she ducked back inside the burrow and made her way back to the nest. She really wished that she hadn't seen that. What had she been thinking? That was so darn stupid of her!

As she sat back down, she tried her best not to heave. There was no hiding from it anymore; Pikachu was a predator. He wasn't like the big ones that normally came after _her_, but he was a predator all the same. He chased down prey and ate it fresh, not caring about anyone who might miss the victim. She glanced at the berries beside her and nearly heaved again. Suddenly, she wasn't feeling quite so hungry anymore...

* * *

Pikachu lay on his back, his arms folded behind his head, and stared at the ceiling of his burrow. Beside him, he could hear Buneary sleeping fairly soundly, even though she shuffled around occasionally.

His stomach was full and happy from the meal earlier – not to mention, his craving had finally been satisfied – but he was uneasy. Not just because Buneary was unhappy about how he'd eaten another Pokemon, although that was certainly a large part of it.

He glanced outside his burrow at the stars twinkling in the night sky, vaguely thinking to himself how much he liked the night. He liked the daytime too, but it didn't hold the same mystical and majestic beauty of the night.

"_You planning to ride in on your blue Ponyta and save all the Pokemon from their fate?"_

He turned back to the ceiling. Thinking back on that battle with the Pidgeot had stirred a lot of emotions in him. All his life, he'd been telling himself that he was doing the right thing, helping other Pokemon. It's what the elder Raichu had always told him to do, after all... but...

"_Every Pokemon you save makes another Pokemon go hungry!"_

He'd never stopped to think about the fact that he, too, was a predator in his own right. True, he only ever ate invertebrates – and not very often, if he could help it – but he was still a predator. Now that he thought about it, he was being such a hypocrite. How could he claim that he was protecting prey from predators when he was out there, eating Wurmple?

Was he a fraud? All this time, had he been pretending to be the big hero, when, in actual fact, he was the villain? He turned on his side, staring somberly at the entrance of his burrow. There were too many emotions swirling inside his brain for him to get any sleep right now.


	18. Fashion

Author's note: Wow, it's been a while, huh? It's been a really rough year, but I'm hoping to get back into the swing of things now. We'll see how it goes, I guess.

For anyone who found the training scenes boring, I've decided to include time skips! In fact, in just one night, I did something that I'd never put too much thought into doing before: I structured In Times of Danger! Oh yes, indeedy.

Also, barely anyone mentioned the Pidgeotto from last chapter. His presence was meant to teach something about predators. Not sure if many people got the message. Lol.

And I'm fully aware that one thing in this chapter differed between the Diamond and Pearl games and the Heart Gold and Soul Silver games... but, since this fic is anime-based, I think I can bend a few rules. :P

I also added something that I saw in a Unova episode. The Pokemon will stay strictly Sinnoh and earlier, but things from Unova might inspire me from time to time. We'll see.

Lastly, the chapter title is a song by Lady Gaga. Enjoy!

P.S. Holy Christmas, this thing is huge! XD Hard to tell without Microsoft Word, but it seems... very long.

* * *

**Chapter Eighteen: Fashion**

Buneary cracked open her dark brown eyes and stared drearily at the dirt wall in front of her. Another day, another training session with Pikachu. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes, then stretched out her muscles, taking her first yawn of the new day. Once she'd recovered, she rolled over and looked at Pikachu, slightly startled when she noticed that he was facing her direction. His eyes, however, were still closed and he was still taking gentle breaths. As adorable as he looked, she wondered why he was still asleep. Oh well. Maybe she'd let him sleep in for a bit.

In that moment, the memory of the previous night hit her like a Rhyhorn stampede, knocking the wind out of her lungs. She'd watched Pikachu, her beloved Pikachu, eating a Wurmple. The queasy feeling returned, so she turned away. How was she going to look at him _now_? It had been bad enough _knowing_ that he was predator, but actually _seeing_ it was something different entirely. She'd never be able to unsee it for the rest of her life.

"Mmsrreh..." Pikachu mumbled.

She looked back at him, puzzled. "Huh?" she asked.

His eyes clenched together slightly. "I'm sorry..."

Her eyes widened. _He's sorry?_ she thought. It was obvious, as she watched him snuggle deeper into the nest, that he was still fast asleep, but what was he apologising for? "Pikachu?"

"Dunhetmeh..."

"Huh?"

"... Don't... hate me..."

Her heart felt like it was tearing itself in half. Just what the heck was he dreaming about? And why was it making him feel so guilty? Her tear ducts began filling up. Maybe he was apologising for what he'd done yesterday? Or maybe it was completely unrelated. Either way, it destroyed her doubts entirely. He was who he was and she'd just have to live with it. It would take a while, but she'd just have to do it, regardless. In the meantime, she only had one response to his mumbling.

She leaned close and lowered her voice to a whisper. "I forgive you..."

His face instantly relaxed.

* * *

A while later, Pikachu had woken up and they'd gone to the lake for their usual morning drink and wash. As Buneary had watched over him, while he took his turn, she had to admit that he looked a little worse for wear. She wondered why. It worried her a bit, especially since he was usually bright and happy in a morning. He was being rather quiet today.

Eventually, he turned to her with a weak smile. "Okay, I'm done," he said.

"Kay," she replied.

It was still hard to look at him. Whenever she saw him smile, she'd imagine his mouth drenched in blood. She looked away.

"Wanna start the exercises now?"

She nodded. "Mmm-hmm, sure."

"Okay. Let's go."

* * *

Pikachu watched calmly as Buneary did her hops and ear-punches, thinking back on the day that they'd had so far. He knew that she was feeling awkward around him and he knew why. He also knew that he was having trouble feeling like his usual cheery self today. Again, he knew why.

It was hard living with guilt - he knew a lot about that - but he was trying to shake it off and get on with things. He was a predator, he just had to accept that. Why it had taken him so long to figure this out, he didn't know. Maybe he'd just been in denial his entire life. Had that meant that everyone else in the clan had been in denial, too? Had their teachings been flawed? Feeling a weight on his chest, he shook off the thought. His clan was always a touchy subject, so he'd rather not even think about it.

"Keep it up, Buneary," he said.

"Kay," she replied.

* * *

"You ready?" Pikachu asked.

Buneary nodded. "Yep," she replied.

"Okay. Now, I'm gonna try something a bit different." He smiled. "I think you've earned a slight boost in power."

She tensed, but quickly shook it off and gave him a determined look. "Alright."

He nodded. "Okay..." He lifted his paw and pointed at her. She looked surprised by the action. "Thunder..." He concentrated slightly more electricity than usual, though still not too much, and sent it to his finger. "Shock." A jolt shot out and hit Buneary. The resulting yelp was a bit louder than usual.

She looked slightly shaken as she smoothed her fur back down. "Whoa..." She roughly shook her head.

He smiled; that was good progress. Suddenly, the smile dropped when his long ears picked up two sets of small footsteps. He looked in the direction of the sound to see what it was and an Eevee - male, by the scent of him - emerged from behind a tree. He jumped to his feet, on immediate alert. Buneary also looked up, backing away slightly.

The Eevee smiled as he walked towards them. "Hi there!" he said, stopping in front of them. "Are you training? It looks interesting." There was something white wrapped around his neck, but Pikachu wasn't paying attention to that.

"Yes, we are," he replied. He took a step towards Buneary, frowning. "Are you here to attack us?"

The Eevee blinked, then chuckled. "No, of course not. I'm simply out for a stroll while my trainer takes a nap."

"... You have a trainer?" Buneary asked in surprise.

"Mmm-hmm! The silly thing has been working really hard all day, so he took a lie down on the grass and instantly fell asleep. I swear, he pushes himself too hard."

Pikachu took another few steps, until he was standing in front of Buneary. "But you're still a fox, right?" he asked.

"Well, yes, though I'm also part dog _and_ cat."

A small gasp came from Buneary. She hid behind him.

"Don't try anything funny..."

"My, you're very on-guard... Don't worry, I won't try to eat you." The Eevee chuckled. "Even if I did, I'd have some trouble overpowering you. You're only slightly bigger than _I_ am."

Pikachu relaxed slightly. "I guess..."

"And, anyway... even though I was _born_ a predator, I'm not one _anymore_."

Pikachu blinked. "Huh?"

"Pokeballs are very strange things. They bond you to the human that puts you inside them... they give you somewhere warm, safe and cozy to sleep... and they kill your meat cravings."

Pikachu's eyes widened, his guard now dropped. "... They do what?"

"Kill your meat cravings. I was born a carnivore, yet, when I got captured, I stopped craving meat completely. It converted me to a vegetarian!"

He was stunned and amazed. "Wow..." If only _he_ had something to kill his meat cravings. He shook off the thought and focused. "Is that so?"

"Mmm-hmm! And I can see why they did it, too. Made it so that Pokeballs do that, I mean. It's so the Pokemon don't eat their team members. I mean, can you imagine a trainer having a team of... I don't know... mice, rabbits and fish and then suddenly catching a cat?"

Pikachu flinched. "Yeah..."

"I've found it's much safer to have a trainer. The travelling is fun, too! We get to _go_ places and battle other trainers' Pokemon!"

"Good for you..." He still wasn't sure whether to trust this Eevee. Why were predators being so confusing lately? First the Pidgeotto and now this guy.

"In fact, that's why we're in Eterna Forest. My trainer's looking for the moss rock."

"The moss rock?" Buneary asked.

"Yep. It's a rock that's hidden somewhere in Eterna Forest. When we find it, it's going to make me a Leafeon." His eyes sparkled. "I can't wait to be a grass-type! I'll finally complete my trainer's team! It's already really well-balanced. He's only missing a grass-type!" He beamed.

Buneary shuffled away from Pikachu slightly. "Well, good luck with that."

"Thanks!"

"... So what's that around your neck?"

"Oh, this?" He touched it with his paw. "It's a Silk Scarf."

"A Silk Scarf?"

"Yep! It's a man-made item for Pokemon." He lowered his paw back to the grass. "It powers up normal-type moves."

Pikachu's eyes widened. At the same time, there was a sharp intake of breath behind him. That sort of thing would be really useful for Buneary.

"Really?" he asked.

"Yep. My trainer gave it to me to make up for not having Adaptability." The Eevee paused. "Actually, he has a ton of these items in his backpack, most of which he'll probably never even use." He paused, tilting his head. Then he straightened it and smiled. "Oh! I know of a perfect item for _you_!" He nodded towards Pikachu.

Pikachu blinked and pointed to himself. "Me?"

The Eevee nodded. "Yeah! Wait here!" He turned and ran off into the distance.

"Okay..."

A silence lingered after his departure. Pikachu turned to look at Buneary. She looked back at him. Her eyes showed that she was just as unsure about this as _he_ was. Arceus, he hated when predators tried to be friendly with him. It confused the heck out of him and upset the natural balance that he'd grown so used to.

Soon enough, there was a grunting sound, being accompanied by the sound of something fairly heavy being dragged across the grass. Curious, Pikachu watched and waited, until the Eevee reappeared, dragging a backpack by his teeth towards them. Once he was back in front of them, he let go.

"Phew... okay..."

Using his face, he nudged open the backpack, then pushed it to the floor with his paw. An assortment of unusual items tumbled out of it.

"Wow..." Pikachu said, taking a good look at the pile of things that he'd never seen before.

"Okay..." He Eevee buried his head inside the backpack and rooted around. "No... no... no..."

"... Um..." Buneary said, "why did you drag it all the way here, only to tip it over?"

"Just in case... no... my trainer woke up... no... saw you... no... and decided to capture you... no... Besides... no... I'll need help... no... putting them back in when I'm done... Ah, here it is!"

Pikachu sighed in resignation. _Oh well_... he thought, _h__elping him repack his trainer's things won't be **too** much of a hassle, I'm sure_.

As he was thinking this, the Eevee pulled his head out of the backpack and pushed something towards him with his paw. "Here!" The object rolled along the ground and bumped into his foot.

He looked down at it. It was a small yellow ball that seemed to be made of plastic. The inside was giving off a strange golden glow. Entranced by it, Pikachu picked it up. Instantly, a sharp jolt ran down his arm. He jumped and shivered, goosebumps appearing underneath his fur.

"Pikachu?" Buneary asked, hopping to stand beside him. "Are you okay?"

His heart was pounding faster than before and he could feel a strange energy surging through his veins. He stared, breathless, at the object in his paw. "What _is_ this?" he asked.

"It's a Light Ball," the Eevee replied. "Only Pikachu can use it, so my trainer doesn't really have a use for it. He already _has_ an electric type... a very playful and... slightly hyperactive Shinx... and, since I saw you training, I figured _you_ should have it!"

Pikachu held the ball close to his chest with both paws. "Wow, thanks... What does it do?"

"Do you feel more powerful holding it?"

"Yeah... I really do..."

"You do?" Buneary asked.

"Yeah..."

"That's because it's designed to double the attack and special attack of a Pikachu," the Eevee said.

His eyes widened. "Really?"

"_Double_?" Buneary asked, her voice cracking slightly in disbelief.

The Eevee nodded. "Yep!" he replied. "Like I said, my trainer has no use for it, so I think _you_ should have it."

"That's... really kind of you..." Pikachu replied, touched by the fox's generosity.

"Oh, it's no problem."

* * *

Buneary wilted. She felt happy for Pikachu, she really did. Now, with that Light Ball, he'd be stronger than ever before and be able to do a much better job of protecting both himself and _her_. However, _she_ would have liked an item, too. She did need one rather desperately, after all.

"Oh!" the Eevee said, dawning comprehension appearing on his face. "Of course!" He reached around and grabbed the Silk Scarf in his mouth, pulling it off his neck. He then tried to speak around it. "Here, Buneary." He walked towards her. "While I'm at it, you might as well have _this_!"

Her eyes widened. "M-Me?" she asked. "Have it? _Really_?"

He nodded. "Mmm-hmm!" She slowly took it from him, staring at it in amazement. "Once I become a Leafeon, I won't have any use for it. My trainer's already said that, once I evolve, he'll give me this Miracle Seed to hold." He nudged a large seed around with his paw. "He says he'll make it into a necklace for me, so it'll easier to battle with it. Isn't that _nice_?"

"Y-Yeah..." Buneary was listening, but she was far too engrossed in the scarf.

This thing would make her stronger. It would power up her normal-type moves and make her even more useful in battle! She couldn't wait to try it on. Wasting no more time, she wrapped it around her neck. It was incredibly soft.

Pikachu smiled at her. "Aww, it looks really good on you, Buneary!" he said.

She blushed in happiness. "Thanks, Pikachu!" Eagerly, she waited for something to happen.

"... Do you feel stronger, Buneary?"

"Hmm?" She concentrated. When she didn't notice any difference, she felt puzzled. "I don't _think_ so..."

Pikachu seemed just as puzzled. "Huh..."

The Eevee's smile slid off his face. "Ah..." he said.

She looked at him. "What?" she asked.

"Your ability isn't Run Away, _is_ it?"

She blinked at him, then realised what he meant. Her ears drooped slightly. "Oh... well..."

"It's the _other_ one, isn't it?"

_"The other one"..._

She'd heard that phrase many times among her clan, where you had one of two abilities. If you didn't have Run Away - or Cute Charm, if you were a Lopunny - then you had 'the other one'. It was never spoken about much and was deemed as somewhat shameful, since nobody considered it the slightest bit useful in the wild. She'd often wondered what this shameful ability was and if she had it.

"I'm... not sure..."

"Well... can you do _this_?" He suddenly disappeared with a 'twish' sound.

She blinked, her eyes widening, and looked around the area. "Where'd he go?"

"Over here!" She looked up and saw him twenty feet away. He disappeared with another 'twish' sound and appeared in front of her. "See? That's Run Away."

"Wow..."

"It helps you get away from wild Pokemon. They're so busy wondering where you've gone that it gives you time to escape."

"You teleported..." Pikachu said.

"Not really. It only _looks_ like I did. I was actually just running really really fast."

"... That's cool..."

Buneary tensed. It wasn't often that she got to see this ability - despite living with a few Buneary who, no doubt, had it - so even _she_ had been impressed by the Eevee's speed. However, the fact that it was designed to help Pokemon get away from _other_ wild Pokemon - or, in _her_ species' case, predators - made her worried. So far, she hadn't been _able_ to escape any Pokemon that had chased after her and had never achieved anywhere _near_ that running speed. Did that mean that she had 'the other' ability? Or had he just not tapped into Run Away yet? Was that even possible? She hoped it _was_, because it would be very useful for her to have Run Away. It would also impress Pikachu.

"How do I know if I have it?" she asked.

The Eevee studied her for a moment. "Well, just imagine something chasing you," he replied. "Anything. The fear that drives you to run away will activate it instantly. You don't even have to think about it."

Doubts creeped over her like a virus. Despite this, she still had to try. "O-Okay..." She closed her eyes and focused.

She imagined every dangerous Pokemon, predator or not, that she'd ever come across in her time living with Pikachu. She imagined the Ninetales, the Houndoom and Houndour, the Gyarados, the Butterfree and Beautifly, the Persian and the Pidgeot. She imagined their angry, hungry, hateful eyes. She imagined the fear that she'd feel upon seeing them all, gathered in one place, advancing on her. She felt the burst of adrenaline, she felt the increased heart rate. Snapping her eyes open, she jolted forwards at great speed, aiming to run/teleport herself away. Instead, she fell flat on her face.

"Buneary!" Pikachu cried, hurrying over. "Are you okay?"

She could barely hear him. Confused, distraught and traumatised, she stared at the grass that was tickling her face.

The Eevee sighed. "I thought so..." he said. "Your ability is Klutz."

Slowly, still in a trance, she pulled herself up on her paws and looked at him. "Klutz?" she asked. The name rang a distant bell.

The Eevee gave her a sad smile. "It means man-made items won't work on you... Sorry..."

Still in disbelief, she looked away, pushed herself backwards to land on her rear and stared into the distance. It seemed that she was far more useless than she'd thought. Unable to defend herself, unable to protect those she cared about and, now, unable to use items. She clutched at the Silk Scarf around her neck, her eyes filling with tears. She'd had one chance, one _big_ chance, to turn things around and she'd screwed it up, simply by being _her_. Ripping the Silk Scarf from her neck, she stood up and walked back to the Eevee.

"Buneary?" Pikachu asked timidly as she passed him. She couldn't even look at him.

"I guess I can't use this, then," she said, holding it out. "Thanks anyway..."

"I'm really sorry..." the Eevee replied. He took the scarf in his mouth.

_At least **Pikachu** will be stronger..._ she thought. _I'll just have to do without... like I do without skill, usefulness or anything else..._

"Buneary?" Pikachu asked, walking up to stand beside her. "I'm really sorry, Buneary..."

"I-It's okay..." The tears were clouding her vision now.

"Don't cry..." She felt his paw pat her on the shoulder. "Please don't cry..."

She started hiccuping uncontrollably. "Who... needs an item... anyway... right?"

"Buneary..." There was a long pause, the only sound being Buneary's quiet sobs to herself. She didn't know how long it lasted before Pikachu spoke again. "Here, Eevee."

She looked up, curious as to what he meant. "Huh?"

He was holding his Light Ball out to Eevee, who had the Silk Scarf draped loosely around his neck. "Take this back. Maybe your trainer can find a use it someday."

Her eyes widened. "Wh... What?"

The Eevee blinked at him. "Are you sure?" he asked. "You're still free to keep it, if you want."

Pikachu hesitated for a second, glancing at the Light Ball, then shook his head and thurst it at the Eevee. "No, I insist. Take it back."

"Well... okay." The Eevee lifted up a paw and Pikachu gently placed it there for him to hold.

Buneary couldn't believe what she was seeing. "P-Pikachu!" she cried. He looked at her. "What are you doing? That Light Ball would make you so powerful!"

He studied her for a moment, then smiled. "Well," he replied, "I figured that, since _you_ couldn't use items, it wouldn't be fair for _me_ to have one." She blinked, utterly speechless. He gave her a sheepish grin. "I'm not gonna lie, I'd have _loved_ to have that Light Ball..." He bore a determined smile. "But I want us to be on equal footing! We'll train _together_ and get stronger _together_... _without_ the use of items!"

She stared at him, her heart welling up with so many emotions at once. He truly was the greatest creature to ever grace Arceus' great earth. After a moment or two, she broke into a wide smile. "Thank you, Pikachu..." She sniffled, starting to cry again. "Thank you so much..."

"Hey, hey, don't cry!" He patted her shoulder again.

"... That was really sweet of you," the Eevee said.

"Yeah, well... aheh..."

"You must really care about her, huh?"

"Yeah, I do..." Buneary felt her insides glow from the statement. "But don't even start on the mates thing!" She blushed.

The Eevee laughed. "Okay, okay..." There was a pause. "Hey, could you help me get the items back before my trainer wakes up? He'd freak if he saw his backpack had gone missing."

"Sure thing. Wanna help, Buneary?"

She sniffled again and smiled at him. "Sure," she replied.

* * *

Pikachu stared out at the night sky, a good deal happier than he'd been the previous night. It had been a painful decision to get rid of that Light Ball, as it could have made him so much stronger - and he really loved being strong - but he knew that he'd made the right choice. He didn't want to be happy if Buneary _wasn't_.

Listening to her gentle breathing behind him, he smiled. It was strange, but their run-in with the Eevee had actually strengthened their bond again. After they'd said their goodbyes and the Eevee had taken to napping beside his trainer, he and Buneary had continued their training like everything was normal. In fact, Buneary had had a goofy smile on her face the entire time, once her tears had been cleaned up.

Closing his eyes, he let out a contented breath, fairly certain that he'd get a better night's sleep tonight.


End file.
